The genus was named from the only known species Mercurana myristicapalustris, which was described in 2013 from the Western Ghats of Kerala, India.

The type species (holotype) of Mercurana was collected on 18 May 2012 from bushes at the periphery of a temple compound, Arippa, near Kulathupuzha Reserve Forest, Kollam district, Kerala, India.

Further, Mercury was of Indian-Parsi origin and spent the majority of his childhood in Panchgani, which is located in the northern part of the mountain range from where the frog was discovered.

During the breeding season, males call females at sunset while perched on slender trunks of tree saplings, or branches of understorey vegetation, generally 0.25–1.5 m above the forest floor, during the intervals when the intermittent rainfall subsided.

She then turns around to position the posterior ends of the pair over the freshly made burrow, and initiates oviposition.

The tadpole is oval and depressed with a brown body and a pale-brown to off-white tail that has translucent fins.

The monotypic species Mercurana myristicapalustris has been documented only in the western foothills of the Agasthyamalai Hill Range in Kerala.

The habitat preference is also strictly the low-elevation of swampy forest (100 to 300 m asl) dominated by Myristica trees.