Pic: Animish Mandrekar

Wrinkled frogs, that get their name from the very wrinkled skin on their backs, have fascinating reproductive behaviour. Unlike bullfrogs that form large groups and complete courting, mating and egg-laying in a few days, these frogs take several months.

At the beginning of the monsoons, the male frog takes over about two metres of a running stream and he sits on the vegetation overhanging it. After dusk, he gives out sweet melodious calls to attract females. The female frog chooses a mate and the vegetation to lay her eggs on. Then the male frog moves away and she lays a clutch of about 30 eggs. After this, the male moves back to fertilise the eggs. Next, he shifts a few centimetres and calls out again to attract a new mate. He does this with several partners.

Once the tadpoles develop inside the eggs, they come out of the egg jelly and drop into the water below, where they develop further.