‘Endangered’ or ‘Near Threatened’, distribution status of Karaavali Skittering frog from the west coast of peninsular India

The Karaavali skittering frog, Euphlyctis karaavali was described in 2016 from the western coastal plains of Karnataka, India with the IUCN Red list conservation status as ‘Endangered’. In the present account, species distribution boundaries has been re-defined based on the field sampling and museum collections. On account of the present studies, IUCN Red list conservation status for the species is proposed as ‘Near Threatened’. Discussions have been made on the morphological crypticity prevailing in the genus and the species complex E. cyanophlyctis since two centuries. Premature proposal of Red list conservation status during the new species descriptions and their implications on the biodiversity documentation studies are reviewed.