10 Kwacha Purple Frog

The purple frog (*Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis*) was unknown to science until 2003, when it was formally described from specimens found in India's Western Ghats — a species that spends nearly its entire life underground, surfacing for only two weeks each year to breed. Its discovery caused genuine surprise among herpetologists, representing a lineage that had been evolving in isolation for roughly 130 million years. Malawi's choice to feature it on a wildlife series coin is geographically odd; the species has no presence in Africa.