Diet of the Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis from the central Western Ghats, India
- Title
- Diet of the Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis from the central Western Ghats, India
- Creator
- Arpitha, Joy; Ganesh, Shama
- Description
- The Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis, found in the Chandra Drona Parvatha massif, is a stream-dwelling, evolutionarily distinct and globally Endangered species threatened by increasing habitat loss and alteration. We examined the stomach contents of 104 individuals, from ten different streams, of which 42 had prey in their stomachs. The prey items were in 12 orders across 4 classes, mainly dipterans, hymenopterans and lepidopterans. The frog exhibits a passive foraging mode, has a moderate trophic niche breadth (Bst = 0.43), and may have a preference for agile prey. Apart from this, there were plant materials, sand grains and plastic debris found in the stomach contents, with 0.82 mm3 of plastic debris found in eight individuals across three streams. The presence of plastic debris indicates the impact of anthropogenic activities leading to a form of habitat degradation. The data presented indicates the need for immediate and efficient conservation strategies to be put in place for this understudied species. 2025 British Herpetological Society. All rights reserved.
- Source
- Herpetological Bulletin;Issue;171;pp.6-11
- Date
- 01-01-2025
- Publisher
- British Herpetological Society
- Coverage
- Arpitha J., Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Bangalore, 5600029, India, EDGE of Existence Programme, Conservation and Policy, Zoological Society of London, London, NW1 4RY, United Kingdom; Ganesh S., Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Bangalore, 5600029, India
- Rights
- All Open Access; Gold Open Access
- Relation
- ISSN: 14730928; CODEN: HBEUA
- Format
- online
- Language
- English
- Type
- Article
Collection
Citation
Arpitha, Joy; Ganesh, Shama, “Diet of the Dattatreya night frog Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis from the central Western Ghats, India,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/23507.