The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri mountain range, is a mountain range that covers an area of 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi) in a stretch of 1,600 km (990 mi) parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, traversing the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. It contains a very large proportion of the country's flora and fauna, many of which are endemic to this region. The Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas. They influence Indian monsoon weather patterns by intercepting the rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west during late summer. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain called the Western Coastal Plains along the Arabian Sea. A total of 39 areas in the Western Ghats, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests, were designated as world heritage sites in 2012 – twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, six in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.
Microhyla sholigari is a species of microhylid frog endemic to southern India. It was described from the Biligirirangan Hills in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka and is named after the Soliga tribal people living in the forests in and around these hills. The frog was thought to be endemic to the Western Ghats and known only from the type locality and another location in Kerala and was listed as an Endangered species. A recent study reported the species from 15 localities in the central Western Ghats with individuals sighted near the Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore, Karnataka. The study supplemented the original species description with color photographs, call recordings and provided a re-assessment of the threat status as per the IUCN Red List and suggest the status as Least-concern species because the criteria for classifying it as an endangered species are no longer fulfilled.
Minervarya brevipalmata is a species of frog found in the Western Ghats in southern India. M. brevipalmata is a little-known and uncommon grassland frog associated with waterlogged or marshy areas, but it has also been recorded from suitable wet patches of forest and lightly degraded former forest.
Minervarya mysorensis is a species of frog that is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. It is only known from its type locality, Jog in Shimoga district, Karnataka state.
Minervarya parambikulamana is a species of frog that is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. It is only known from its type locality, "Parambikulam forests", possibly within the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala state.
Minervarya rufescens is a species of frog that is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. It occurs in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, and Kerala states. It is a locally common species associated with riparian and forest edge habitats in open and lightly degraded tropical moist semi-evergreen forests.
Minervarya sauriceps is a species of frog that is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. It is only known from its type locality, Wattekole in Kodagu district, Karnataka state.
Micrixalus elegans is a species of frog in the family Micrixalidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India, and occurs between the Palakkad Gap and Goa Gap in the states of Kerala and Karnataka. Micrixalus elegans is one of the Micrixalus species showing "foot-flagging" behaviour, hence the common name elegant dancing frog has been proposed. Other common names include elegant torrent frog and elegant bush frog.
Micrixalus kottigeharensis is a species of frog in the family Micrixalidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in Karnataka, India. It is one of the "Top 100 Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) Amphibians". The specific name means "from Kottigehara".
The Kempholey night frog is a species of frog in the family Nyctibatrachidae.
Nyctibatrachus sanctipalustris is a species of frog in the family Nyctibatrachidae from India. The specific name, sanctipalustris, "holy swamp" in Latin, refers to the type locality, "the sacred swamps of the Cauvery (river)...Coorg, India".
Raorchestes beddomii is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to southern Western Ghats of southwestern India in Kerala and Tamil Nadu (Kannikatti). Its name honours Colonel Richard Henry Beddome who collected the type specimen.
Raorchestes charius is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. It is an arboreal species living in tropical moist evergreen forests in the Karnataka state. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by the conversion of native forests into cultivated areas.
Raorchestes glandulosus, also known as glandular bush frog, rough-skinned bush frog, southern bubble-nest frog, and with many other names, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India, and known from the states of Karnataka and Kerala.
Raorchestes griet is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap in Kerala and Tamil Nadu states, India. The specific name griet honours Griet Decock, spouse of Franky Bossuyt, the scientist who described the species. Common name Griet bush frog has been coined for it.
Raorchestes tinniens, also known as the spotted bush frog, black bush frog, and Rao's bubble-nest frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills, a part of the Western Ghats, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, southern India. It has a rather complicated taxonomic history, and there is still an open issue whether Ixalus montanusGünther, 1876 from Kudremukh (Karnataka), now in synonymy with Raorchestes tinniens, is indeed a valid species.
Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus, also known as Anaimalai flying frog, false Malabar gliding frog, and false Malabar tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Anaimalai Hills, a part of the southern the Western Ghats in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, India.
Minervarya nilagirica, commonly known as Nilgiris wart frog, or Nilgiris frog, is a species of frog that is endemic to India.
Pseudophilautus amboli, the Amboli bush frog, is a rare shrub frog species endemic to the Western Ghats (India). It is found in Amboli and Amba in Maharashtra and in Castle Rock, Londa, Jog Falls-Mavingundi, and Kudremukh-Malleshwaram in Karnataka.
Indosylvirana indica, the Indian golden-backed frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It was formerly considered as conspecific with Indosylvirana temporalis but was found to be a distinct species in a 2014 study.
