Indirana leithii

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Leith's leaping frog
Indirana leithii
Indirana leithii from Matheran, India.jpg
Female Indirana leithii from Matheran
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranixalidae
Genus: Indirana
Species:
I. leithii
Binomial name
Indirana leithii
(Boulenger, 1888) [2]
Indirana leithii map-fr.svg
Synonyms [3]
  • Rana leithii Boulenger, 1888
  • Ranixalus leithii (Boulenger, 1888)

Indirana leithii (Leith's leaping frog, Leith's frog, Boulenger's brown frog, Matheran leaping frog, or Matheran Indian frog) is a species of frog in the family Ranixalidae. [3] It is endemic to the northern Western Ghats of India. As currently defined, its range is restricted to the states of Maharashtra and southern Gujarat; earlier records elsewhere refer to other species. [3] [4] [5] [1]

Contents

Etymology

The specific name leithii honours Andrew Henderson Leith, a physician who worked as Sanitary Commissioner in Bombay. [6]

Description

Adult males measure 19–29 mm (0.7–1.1 in) and adult females 24–36 mm (0.9–1.4 in) in snout–vent length. [4] The tympanum is two-thirds of the eye diameter; a strong supra-tympanic fold runs from the eye to the shoulder. The fingers and toes bear enlarged discs; the toes are two-thirds webbed. Dorsal skin is rough with number of folds. Colouration is brownish with many, closely set black spots. The limbs are cross-barred. The venter is white while the throat is finely mottled with brown. [7]

The following description is adopted from George Albert Boulenger's "Fauna of British India": [8]

Vomerine teeth in two oblique groups are set just behind the level of the choanae. A free, pointed papilla sits on the middle of the tongue. The head is moderate; the snout is obtuse, with obtuse canthus rostralis and concave loreal region; the nostril is nearer to the end of the snout than to the eye; the interorbital space is a little narrower than the upper eyelid; the tympanum is distinct, two thirds the diameter of the eye. The fingers are moderate, the first extending not quite as for as second; the toes are two-thirds webbed, the web reaching the disks of the third and fifth toes; tips of fingers and toes dilated into small but well-developed disks; subarticular tubercles moderate; a single, small, oval inner metatarsal tubercle; no tarsal fold is present. The tibio-tarsal articulation reaches halfway between the eye and the end of the snout. The skin of the back has small scattered longitudinal warts; a strong fold runs from the eye to the shoulder. It is brown above, with small dark spots; limbs with dark transverse bands; lower parts white, throat mottled with brown. From snout to vent 1.25 inches.

This frog has no call within the human audible range. [1]

Habitat

This frog lives in the northern part of the Western Ghats. It is a terrestrial species, inhabiting evergreen and partially evergreen forests near basalt cliffs. It has been observed on the ground near streams and in cracks in rocks or among the leaf litter. This frog has been observed between 25 and 1329 meters above sea level. [1]

During the breeding period, the frogs convene in caverns, sometimes in great numbers. The frog lays eggs on wet rocks or in cracks in rocks. The tadpoles use their mouths to adhere to the rocks, where they eat algae. The tadpoles are only semi-aquatic. The hind legs grow in at an earlier age than on the tadpoles of other species. [1]

The frog's range includes several protected parks: Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamhini-Sudhagad Wildlife Sanctuary, Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary, Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, and Vansda National Park. [1]

Diet

The adult frog eats ants, grubs, and hemipterans. The tadpoles eat algae. [1]

Threats

Scientists believe this frog is not in danger of dying out, but it is in some danger from habitat loss due to the conversion of forest to agriculture and infrastructure construction. Anti-landslide measures involving shortcrete can harm this frog by filling in the cracks in the rocks where frogs would lay their eggs. Wood harvesting at a subsistence level also poses some threat, but a minor one. [1]

Scientists also think climate change could hurt this frog. Because climate change has changed the weather, some of these frogs have dried out and died. [1]

Scientists have seen the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis on this frog, but they do not know its specific morbidity or mortality. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis causes the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fungoid frog</span> Species of amphibian

The fungoid frog or Malabar Hills frog is a colourful frog found on the forest floor and lower vegetation in the Western Ghats in south-western India from Bombay to Kerala. It is very similar to another species with which it overlaps partly in range, Hydrophylax bahuvistara which extends further into parts of central India. Although restricted in range within peninsular India, they are of least conservation concern. Their upper parts vary in colour from brownish-red to bright crimson.

<i>Indirana</i> Genus of amphibians

Indirana is a genus of frogs in the family Ranixalidae. These frogs are endemic to the Western Ghats of India. They are sometimes known under the common name Indian frogs, whereas members of their parent family are named "leaping frogs".

<i>Indirana beddomii</i> Species of amphibian

Indirana beddomii, Beddome's leaping frog, Beddome's Indian frog, or simply Beddome's frog, is a species of frog found in the Western Ghats. They are usually detected by their long leaps as they flush from the ground when disturbed. The species is named after the naturalist Richard Henry Beddome.

<i>Micrixalus saxicola</i> Species of amphibian

Micrixalus saxicola is a species of frog in the family Micrixalidae, found in forest streams in the Western Ghats of India.This frog has a brown colored dorsum and a white ventral side with irregular white specks on its dark brown throat and chest. Its smooth skin and cryptic coloration allow it to blend into its surroundings while resting or calling. The males of the species are territorial, and will use calling, foot tapping, and foot flagging to warn off competition. M. saxicolais is described by the IUCN as a vulnerable species due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and human interference.The frog also threatened by infection by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

<i>Indirana semipalmata</i> Species of amphibian

Indirana semipalmata is a species of frog endemic to the Western Ghats region of southern India. They are small frogs, reaching lengths of about 36 mm (1.4 in) from snout to vent. The species breeds during the monsoons, laying their eggs on moist rocks and tree bark. Their tadpoles are terrestrial – hatching, feeding, and undergoing metamorphosis without ever entering any standing bodies of water.

<i>Walkerana diplosticta</i> Species of amphibian

Walkerana diplosticta, also known as the spotted leaping frog, Malabar Indian frog, rufous leaf-hopper frog, and Günther's frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranixalidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap and only known with certainty from the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India. Localities with confirmed records include the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.

Indirana gundia is a species of frog found in the Western Ghats of India. It is only known from its type locality, Kempholey, Karnataka. Indirana gundia is listed among "Top 100 EDGE Amphibians". It represents a family that has been evolving independently in India for almost 50 million years.

Walkerana leptodactyla is a species of frog endemic to the southern Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu states of southern India. Precise reports are from Anaimalai hills, Palni hills, Meghamalai, Travancore hills and Agasthyamalai.

<i>Walkerana phrynoderma</i> Species of amphibian

Walkerana phrynoderma is a species of frog endemic to the Anaimalai Hills, of the Western Ghats of Kerala and Tamil nadu states in southern India. This species is known from Munnar, Eravikulam National Park, Valparai tea gardens, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Grass Hills National Park and Palni hills. It is a very rare terrestrial frog species associated with leaf-litter in tropical moist forest. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by subsistence wood collecting. It has the status of one of the "Top 100 Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered Amphibians."

Indirana tenuilingua is a species of frog that is considered nomen inquirendum. It is only known from the type series, now lost, from its type locality, Kemphole, in the Western Ghats of India. It is sometimes known as Rao's Indian frog or slender-tongued frog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombay night frog</span> Species of amphibian

The Bombay night frog, also known as Abdulali's wrinkled frog, Abdulali's night frog or Humayun's wrinkled frog, is a species of frog in the family Nyctibatrachidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of Maharashtra state, India. The species is found near torrential hill streams in tropical moist evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, a habitat that is threatened by habitat loss and pollution. Its name honours Humayun Abdulali, an Indian biologist.

<i>Raorchestes griet</i> Species of frog

Raorchestes griet is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap in Kerala and Tamil Nadu states, India. The specific name griet honours Griet Decock, spouse of Franky Bossuyt, the scientist who described the species. The common name Griet bush frog has been coined for it.

<i>Raorchestes kakachi</i> Species of amphibian

Raorchestes kakachi is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the southern Western Ghats of India. The specific name kakachi refers to the type locality from where the species was described.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranixalidae</span> Family of amphibians

Ranixalidae is a family of frogs commonly known as the leaping frogs or Indian frogs. They are endemic to central and southern India, specifically in the Western Ghat mountain range. This mountain range encompasses the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Ranixalidae can be found in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala. There is a large concentration of them in Goa and Maharashtra, however there are still considerable amounts of species within the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala, where there are other frogs within the Indirana genus.

<i>Raorchestes kadalarensis</i> Species of amphibian

Raorchestes kadalarensis is a species of frog of the genus Raorchestes found in Kadalar near Munnar in the Western Ghats of Kerala in India. This frog has been observed between 1300 and 1700 meters above sea level.

<i>Indirana chiravasi</i> Species of amphibian

Indirana chiravasi is a species of frog endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is only known from its type locality, the laterite plateaus by the hill-station of Amboli, Maharashtra. It was described in 2014 by a team of three scientists from IISER, Pune and MES Abasaheb Garware College.

Walkerana muduga, also known as the Muduga mountain leaping frog or Muduga leaping frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranixalidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and known from the Elivai Malai range, north of the Palghat Gap in Tamil Nadu. All other known species of Walkerana occur south of the Palghat Gap, and molecular data suggest that Walkerana muduga is deeply divergent from the more southern species. However, there is another, as yet undescribed lineage from north of the Palghat Gap that is known from a single, poorly preserve specimen.

<i>Walkerana</i> Genus of frogs

Walkerana is a genus of frogs in the family Ranixalidae. The genus is endemic to the Western Ghats in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India. It was erected in 2016 to host three species of Indirana that represented a genetically and morphologically distinct clade within the then broadly defined Indirana. Until Walkerana muduga was described in 2020, the genus was only known from the southernmost part of the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap.

<i>Indirana tysoni</i> Species of frog

Indirana tysoni, also known by its common name Tyson's leaping frog, is a species from the genus Indirana. The species was originally described in 2016 by Neelesh Dahanukar, Nikhil Modak, Keerthi Krutha, P. O. Nameer, Anand D. Padhye, and Sanjay Molur.

Ghatixalus magnus, the large-sized Ghat tree frog, is a species of frog in the subfamily Rhacophorinae. It is endemic to India, in the southern Western Ghat mountains, between the Palakkad Gap and Shencottah Gap.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2023). "Matherana Leaping Frog: Indirana leithii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2023: e.T58311A166101160. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T58311A166101160.en . Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  2. Boulenger, G.A. (1888). "Descriptions of two new Indian species of Rana". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6. 2: 506–508. doi:10.1080/00222938809487521.
  3. 1 2 3 Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Indirana leithii (Boulenger, 1888)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  4. 1 2 Modak, N.; Padhye, A. & Dahanukar, N. (2014). "Delimiting the distribution range of Indirana leithii (Boulenger, 1888) (Anura: Ranixalidae), an endemic threatened anuran of the Western Ghats, based on molecular and morphological analysis". Zootaxa (3796): 62–80. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3796.1.3. PMID   24870665.
  5. Dahanukar, Neelesh; Modak, Nikhil; Krutha, Keerthi; Nameer, P. O.; Padhye, Anand D. & Molur, Sanjay (2016). "Leaping frogs (Anura: Ranixalidae) of the Western Ghats of India: An integrated taxonomic review". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 8 (10): 9221–9288. doi: 10.11609/jott.2532.8.10.9221-9288 .
  6. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 122. ISBN   978-1-907807-42-8.
  7. Venkataraman, K.; Chattopadhyay, A. & Subramanian, K.A., eds. (2013). Endemic Animals of India (Vertebrates). Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India. pp. 235+26 plates. [Indirana leithii: p. 102]
  8. Boulenger, G. A. (1890). Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Taylor and Francis. 570 pp. [Rana leithii: p. 453]