Microhyla sholigari

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Microhyla sholigari
Microhyla sholigari DSC 1454 copy Seshadri K S.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Genus: Microhyla
Species:
M. sholigari
Binomial name
Microhyla sholigari
Dutta and Ray, 2000 [2]

Microhyla sholigari is a species of microhylid frog endemic to southern India. [3] It was described from the Biligirirangan Hills in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka and is named after the Soliga tribal people living in the forests in and around these hills. [2] The frog was thought to be endemic to the Western Ghats and known only from the type locality and another location in Kerala and was listed as an Endangered species. [1] A recent study reported the species from 15 localities in the central Western Ghats with individuals sighted near the Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore, Karnataka. [4] The study supplemented the original species description with color photographs, call recordings and provided a re-assessment of the threat status as per the IUCN Red List and suggest the status as Least-concern species because the criteria for classifying it as an endangered species are no longer fulfilled. [4]

Contents

Description

Microhyla sholigari is a small sized frog with adult males measuring 15.9–16.2 mm (N = 3) and females measuring 16.5–19.2 mm (N = 4). Individuals of this species have a pointed snout in dorsal and ventral views. The snout protrudes beyond the lower jaw in ventral view. The tympanum is indistinct. The head is wider than long and the throat is buff colored with brown pigmentation. Finger and toe tips are dilated with reduced webbing between toes. The dorsal skin is smooth with small tubercles increasing in density towards the vent. Dorsally, the skin coloration is brown with pale red tubercles. Forelimbs are reddish brown in color with black cross bands. The lateral aspect of the body is greyish black with the color fading towards the groin. Anterior portion of the thigh has a black band terminating just short of the groin. In life, the frog is primarily brown in color with contrasting black markings on dorsum, hands, feet and flanks. A dark trifoliar pattern on dorsum is present from the region between the eyes and up to the vent. This pattern appears like a sword with a hilt-guard.

Microhyla sholigari in dorsal view Microhyla sholigari top view.jpg
Microhyla sholigari in dorsal view

The iris is golden yellow with brown mottling and a black pupil. The advertisement calls of M. sholigari sound like a sharp ‘Zeeeeee…..Zeeeee…..Zeeeee…’ and are heard as a chorus with each call being 0.76 ± 0.04 s (range: 0.65–0.81 s) long in duration. The calls have 52–67 pulses (mean ± SE: 63 ± 4, N = 13) with a mean dominant frequency of 3596 ± 98 Hz (range: 3375–3704). [2] [4] Genetically, the species is closely related to M. laterite. [5]

Anterior view of M. sholigari Microhyla sholigari Front profile.jpg
Anterior view of M. sholigari

Ecology and natural history

Microhyla sholigari is a terrestrial species and common in and around human settlements, open areas in forests, and around ponds. They typically inhabit areas with dense grass clumps and vocalize between 18:00 h to about 23:00 h during the months of June to October. They breed in shallow water bodies and possibly in slow flowing streams in forested areas. They have overlapping calls with other M. sholigari individuals and with ground crickets. [4] It is threatened by habitat loss, at present mostly driven by urbanization but in the past by agricultural expansion and wood extraction. [1]

Distribution

Microhyla sholigari is known to occur in a widespread area of south India. The extent of occurrence is about 28,304.6 km2. The frogs are locally abundant with over 50 calling male individuals/100 sq. m in locations such as Bisle, Biligiri Rangaswamy Hills Tiger Reserve and near Shivanalli, Bangalore, Karnataka.

Related Research Articles

Microhylidae Family of amphibians

The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.

<i>Nyctibatrachus</i> Genus of amphibians

Nyctibatrachus is a genus of frogs endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India. Their common name is night frogs. Their scientific name also means "night frog", in reference to their habits and dark color. They are the only extant members of the monotypic subfamily Nyctibatrachinae. Currently, 35 species belong to Nyctibatrachus.

<i>Euphlyctis</i> Genus of amphibians

Euphlyctis is a genus of frogs in family Dicroglossidae distributed from the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan and Afghanistan to India, Nepal, through Myanmar and Thailand to Malaya, and Sri Lanka. None of the four species assessed by the IUCN is considered threatened.

<i>Kalophrynus</i> Genus of amphibians

Kalophrynus is a genus of microhylid frogs. It is the only genus in the subfamily Kalophryninae. The species in this genus are found in southern China, in Southeast Asia to Java and Philippines, and in Assam, India.

<i>Microhyla</i> Genus of amphibians

Microhyla, commonly known as the rice frogs or narrow-mouthed frogs, is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It consists of 42 species of diminutive frogs. Members of this genus are widespread from Ryukyu Is. in Japan, and throughout South-east Asia,.

<i>Microhyla ornata</i> Species of amphibian

Microhyla ornata, commonly known as the ornate narrow-mouthed frog, ornate narrow-mouthed toad, or ornamented pygmy frog, is a species of microhylid frog found in South Asia. This amphibian is distributed in Kashmir, Nepal, peninsular India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was previously considered to be the same species as Microhyla fissipes; therefore, the aforementioned common names can refer to either species.

<i>Uperodon taprobanicus</i> Species of amphibian

Uperodon taprobanicus, also known as the Sri Lankan bullfrog, Sri Lankan painted frog, Sri Lankan kaloula, Ceylon kaloula, Indian painted frog, or painted globular frog, is a species of narrow-mouthed frog found in Nepal, Bangladesh, southern and eastern India, and Sri Lanka up to an altitude of about 1300 metres. It can grow to an adult length of up to 75 millimetres(7.5 cm) long from snout to vent. It was originally described as a subspecies of Kaloula pulchra, ssp. taprobanica. The IUCN lists it as being of "Least Concern".

<i>Microhyla rubra</i> Species of amphibian

Microhyla rubra is a species of narrow-mouthed frog endemic to India. Earlier thought to exist also in Sri Lanka, new studies suggested that Sri Lankan population is a different species, now elevated to species level as Microhyla mihintalei.

Microhyla borneensis, also known as the Matang narrow-mouthed frog, is a species of microhylid frog found in the Matang Range in Sarawak, Borneo. It was once the smallest known frog from the Old World. Adult males of this species have a snout-vent length (SVL) of 10.6–12.8 mm (0.42–0.50 in), but adult males can reach a maximum of 13 mm (0.51 in),and adult females of this species have a snout-vent length of 16–19 mm (0.63–0.75 in), Tadpoles measure just 3 mm.

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

Raorchestes ochlandrae is a species of shrub frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India. This species of the oriental shrub frog was first described from Kakkayam Reserve Forest of Calicut district, Kerala state, in the southern Western Ghats in 2007 but has since been recorded at many other sites along the Western Ghats. The specific name ochlandrae refers to microhabitat of the species, bamboo Ochlandra setigera.

<i>Microhyla fissipes</i> Species of amphibian

Microhyla fissipes is a microhylid frog from East and Southeast Asia, from southern and central China and Taiwan to the Malay Peninsula. It was previously considered to be the same species as Microhyla ornata of South Asia; thus the common names ornate narrow-mouthed frog or ornamented pygmy frog can refer to either species.

<i>Raorchestes</i> Genus of amphibians

Raorchestes is a genus of frogs in the subfamily Rhacophorinae that are found in mountainous regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and southern China. A recent study places Raorchestes as a sister taxon of Pseudophilautus. Before the description of the genus in 2010, species now in Raorchestes had been assigned to genera Ixalus, Philautus, and Pseudophilautus.

<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.

<i>Microhyla laterite</i> Species of amphibian

Microhyla laterite or laterite narrow-mouthed frog is a species of frog discovered in Karnataka, India in 2016. It is known from ephemeral ponds forming in laterite soil along the coastal fringe adjoining the Karnataka Western Ghats.

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

Raorchestes honnametti is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae that is described from the Biligiri Rangaswamy Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.

<i>Euphlyctis karaavali</i> Species of frog

Euphlyctis karaavali is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is endemic to the southwestern coast of India in Karnataka.

<i>Microhyla kodial</i> Species of amphibian

Microhyla kodial, the Mangaluru narrow-mouthed frog, is a frog species belongs to family Microhylidae. It is likely endemic to a small portion of India, and was discovered in the urban part of Mangalore. This new discovery was published at international journal Zootaxa on Tuesday May 16, 2018.

<i>Euphlyctis aloysii</i> Species of frog

Euphlyctis aloysii is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is endemic to Karnataka, southwestern India. It was described from a female holotype from Mangalore, Karnataka.

Microhyla mihintalei is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

References

  1. 1 2 3 S.D. Biju, Sushil Dutta, Gajanan Dasaramji Bhuddhe, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, Chelmala Srinivasulu (2004). "Microhyla sholigari". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2004: e.T57893A11688938. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T57893A11688938.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Dutta, S. K. & Ray, P. (2000). "Microhyla sholigari, a new species of microhylid frog (Anura: Microhylidae) from Karnataka, India". Hamadryad. 25: 38–44.
  3. ↑ Frost, Darrel R. (2020). "Microhyla sholigari Dutta and Ray, 2000". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001 . Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Seshadri, Kadaba Shamanna; Priti, H.; Ravikanth, G.; Vidisha, M. K.; Vineeth, K. K.; Singal, Ramit; Sarma, R. R.; Aravind, N. A. & Gururaja, Kotambylu Vasudeva (21 December 2016). "Redescription and range extension of Microhyla sholigari Dutta & Ray (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from South West India". Zootaxa. 4208 (6): zootaxa.4208.6.3. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4208.6.3. ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   28006797.
  5. ↑ Seshadri, K. S.; Singal, Ramit; Priti, H.; Ravikanth, G.; Vidisha, M. K.; Saurabh, S.; Pratik, M. & Gururaja, Kotambylu Vasudeva (2016). "Microhyla laterite sp. nov., a new species of Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from a laterite rock formation in south west India". PLOS ONE. 11 (3): e0149727. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1149727S. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149727 . PMC   4784882 . PMID   26960208.
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