A new species of frog in the genus Nyctibatrachus (Anura: Ranidae) from Western Ghats, India

A new species of Nyctibatrachus is described from the Western Ghats part of Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka, South India. This torrent species is differentiated from all known species in the genus by its very large size (SVL: snout vent length range 52-84 mm), stout body, rough and highly wrinkled dorsum, presence of two prominent folds in the tympanic region, prominent vomerine teeth located horizontally on highly-elevated strong ridges situated far behind the choanae. Hindlimb is short, tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the tympanic region, tips of fingers and toes dilated into prominent discs with circum-marginal grooves. Prominent and highly developed tubercles equal to the size of their respective terminal phalangial discs are present. The new species is compared with closely related congeneric species (W. humayuni, N. major and N. vasanthi). It markedly differs in colouration, size of tubercles, length of the forelimb, hindlimb, foot and tibia (calculated as a per cent of respective SVL) with a high degree of squared Euclidean dissimilarity.