Kali Night Frog, 35th Western Ghats endemic night frog, discovered in Karnataka

Exam-focused facts from the 30 March 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Nyctibatrachus kali (Kali Night Frog) was discovered in the Castlerock region of the Western Ghats by researchers and forest department frontline staff.
The species is named after the river Kali and the Kali Tiger Reserve.
DNA and call analysis confirmed it as a cryptic species distinct from the Kumbara Night Frog, despite morphological similarity.
The discovery was published in PeerJ, an international journal.
India hosts 474 of the 9,027 known amphibian species worldwide.
Nearly two out of every five amphibian species face extinction threats globally and in India, with habitat loss, climate change, and disease as major drivers.