Thampi's torrent frog (Micrixalus thampii)

Also known as:	Silent Valley tropical frog, Thampi’s tropical frog

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Amphibia
Order	Anura
Family	Micrixalidae
Genus	Micrixalus (1)

Top facts

• Thampi’s torrent frog is only known from Silent Valley National Park, in the Western Ghats region of India.
• Last seen in 1981, Thampi’s torrent frog was rediscovered by chance in 2010 in a rubbish bin.
• An inhabitant of moist tropical evergreen forests, Thampi’s torrent frog is found along hill streams and riverbanks, and is known to hide under logs and rocks.
• Thampi’s torrent frog is flesh pink to golden brown, and has black stripes running down its sides.

Thampi’s torrent frog is classified as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List (1).

Last seen in 1981 (2), Thampi’s torrent frog (Micrixalus thampii) was rediscovered by chance in a rubbish bin almost 30 years later during Conservation International’s Search for Lost Frogs project (3) (4).

Also known as the Silent Valley tropical frog (5), Thampi’s torrent frog is a relatively small Micrixalus species (6). Its upperparts are reported to be flesh pink (6) to golden brown (4), and it has black stripes running down its sides (4) (6).

Thampi’s torrent frog is endemic to the Western Ghats, in India (6) (7) (8). This species is only known to be found in the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala (1) (6) (8), but it is possible that its range extends a little further than this (1) (8).

Thampi’s torrent frog is found in moist tropical evergreen forests, and is mainly associated with hill streams and other riparian habitats (1) (6) (8). This species is known to reside on the forest floor (1) (6) (8), and can be found under rocks and logs (6). Thampi’s torrent frog has been recorded at an elevation of 900 metres (1) (5) (6) (8).

There is little information available on the biology of Thampi’s torrent frog. However, as in other Micrixalus species, it is presumed to have aquatic larvae which live in streams (1) (8).

At present, there are no known threats to Thampi’s torrent frog (1) (8).

Thampi’s torrent frog is protected by national legislation, as well as through its presence in the well-protected Silent Valley National Park in Kerala, India. This poorly known species is also the focus of ongoing studies (1) (8).

Learn more about Thampi’s torrent frog:

• AmphibiaWeb - Micrixalus thampii:
  http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?where-genus=Micrixalus&where-species=thampii

Find out more about amphibians and their conservation:

• IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group:
  http://www.amphibians.org/
• AmphibianArk:
  http://www.amphibianark.org/
• Gascon, C., Collins, J.P., Moore, R.D., Church, D.R., McKay, J.E. and Mendelson III, J.R. (2005) Amphibian Conservation Action Plan. The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland. Available at:
  http://www.amphibianark.org/pdf/ACAP.pdf
• Conservation International - The Search for Lost Frogs:
  http://www.conservation.org/campaigns/lost_frogs/Pages/search_for_lost_amphibians.aspx

Learn more about the Western Ghats ecoregion:

• ARKive - Western Ghats:
  http://www.arkive.org/eco-regions/western-ghats/

Learn more about newly discovered species:

• ARKive - Newly discovered species:
  http://www.arkive.org/newly-discovered-species/

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

• Endemic: a species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
• Evergreen forest: forest consisting mainly of evergreen trees, which retain leaves all year round. This is in contrast to deciduous trees, which completely lose their leaves for part of the year.
• Larva: immature stage in an animal’s lifecycle, after it hatches from an egg and before it changes into the adult form. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but are usually unable to reproduce.
• Riparian: relating to the banks of rivers and streams.

1. IUCN Red List (January, 2013)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org/
2. IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group - Lost Frogs List (January, 2013)
   http://www.amphibians.org/our-work/lostfrogs/lost-frogs-list/
3. Moore, R. (2011) Rediscovering a species…in a rubbish bin. Conservation International Blog, 17 February. Available at:
   http://blog.conservation.org/2011/02/rediscovering-a-species-rubbish-bin/
4. Species New to Science Blog (2011) India's 5 lost frogs rediscovered, including: Ramanella anamalaiensis, Raorchestes chalazodes and Micrixalus thampii. Species New to Science Blog, 15 July. Available at:
   http://novataxa.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/5-lost-frogs-india-rediscoverd.html
5. American Museum of Natural History - Micrixalus thampii (January, 2013)
   http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/?action=references&id=17848
6. India Biodiversity Portal - Micrixalus thampii (January, 2013)
   http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/26221
7. Molur, S. (2008) South Asian amphibians: taxonomy, diversity and conservation status. International Zoo Yearbook, 42: 143-157.
8. AmphibiaWeb - Micrixalus thampii (December, 2012)
   http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?where-scientific_name=Micrixalus+thampii