Occurrence and Distribution of Cave Dwelling Frogs of Peninsular India

摘要

The life in subterranean caves always needs a high degree of biologicaladaptability, due to its unusual ecosystem. The cave dwelling species usuallyget selected from preadapted biological traits for cave life. The cave dwellingtendencies in frog are very uncommon. Majority of reported cave frogs usuallyprefer cave for temporary shelter. In India, the biospeleological inventory isstill in its primary stage. Till date no serious attempt has been taken tounderstand the cave dwelling habitat forany frog in India. Inspite of it, in Indiatime to time various reports on natural histories of anurans reveal its cavedwelling tendencies. On the basis of personal observations and availableliterature in this report I have documented the occurrences and distributionsof five cave dwelling frogs of India. Common biological traits from all theestablished cave frogs, which could be referred as preadapted forcave life, havebeen discussed. Further, the possible threats and IUCN status of eachdiscussed species has been highlighted.