Study finds Western Ghats stream frogs co-occur by differing in body size

Researchers at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru reported that closely related stream-dwelling frog species in the Western Ghats tend to co-occur in different body-size classes, especially in the endemic genera Nyctibatrachus and Micrixalus. The study links this pattern to competition-driven 'species sorting' and reports an association between body size and microhabitat use in Nyctibatrachus (larger frogs in faster-flowing stream sections; smaller ones near edges/leaf litter).