"Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a frog species from the Western Ghats, India. Common names for this species are Purple Frog or Pignose Frog. It was discovered in October 2003 and was found to be so unique for the geographic region that it was initially placed in a family of its own. It was subsequently placed in a family that was earlier known only from the Seychelles island chain.
The scientific name derives from the Sanskrit word nasika (nose) referring to the pointed snout, batrachus Greek for frog, and Sahyadri as the local name of the mountain range where it was found - the Western Ghats.
The frog spends most of the year underground, surfacing only for about two weeks, during the monsoon, for purposes of mating. The frog's reclusive lifestyle is what caused the species to escape earlier notice by biologists. The frog is dark purple in color, seven centimeters [2.8 inches] in length, and has a small head and a pointy snout.
The species was discovered by Franky Bossuyt from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels) and S.D. Biju from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in Palode, India. However it was well known to the local people before.
The frog forms a living fossil and was initially assigned to a new family of its own, Nasikabatrachidae, but has been more recently assigned to the family Sooglossidae which is found on the Seychelles islands. The origin of the disjunct distribution goes back to about 100 million years ago, during which time India, the Seychelles and Madagascar formed a single landmass which split due to continental drift." - Wikipedia
