Rao's Intermediate Golden-backed Frog

Indosylvirana intermedia is a small frog, measuring up to 7.4 centimetres (2.9 in) in length.

Indosylvirana intermedia is found in the Western Ghats north of the Palakkad Gap, in the Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala.

One I. intermedia specimen from Karkala, Karnataka was discovered in 2023 with a living bonnet mushroom sprouting from its left flank. As the frog was not caught, precise identification of the mushroom species or of the exact nature of the relationship is unknown. Later examination of photographic evidence suggested the mushroom to be Mycena sp., a saprotrophic fungi which is mostly found in decomposing wood, although it has already been reported to grow on living tree roots. A possibility, advanced by researcher Karthikeyan Vasudevan, is that the mushroom grew from a piece of woody debris stuck under the frog's skin. The fungal outgrowth has been noted to be unrelated to chytridiomycosis, a common fungal disease affecting frogs throughout India. Effects of the mushroom on the frog's disease sensitivity are unclear. Both the risk of a compromised immune system and the possibility of the later having been more strongly activated by the outgrowth have been proposed.

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