Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus

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Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus
Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Genus: Rhacophorus
Species:
R. pseudomalabaricus
Binomial name
Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus
Vasudevan  [ fr ] and Dutta, 2000

Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus, also known as Anaimalai flying frog, false Malabar gliding frog, [2] and false Malabar tree frog, [3] is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Anaimalai Hills, a part of the southern the Western Ghats in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala states, India. [2]

Contents

Description

Adult males measure 47–54 mm (1.9–2.1 in) and adult females 66–72 mm (2.6–2.8 in) in snout–vent length. [4] The eyes are protruding. The supra-tympanic fold is distinct. [3] The fingers and toes are extensively webbed; the webbing is light yellow to red-orange in color. Juveniles have distinctive black zebra-like pattern that becomes fainter in adults, resembling venation of leaf; the background colour is green. [4] Scientists note that this is the only species in Rhacophorus to resemble a leaf in this way and speculate its purpose is camouflage. [5]

Habitat and conservation

Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus has been recorded in tropical moist evergreen forest, [6] in secondary forests on the fringe of abandoned cardamom plantation, in a marshy area beside a perennial stream outside a cardamom plantation, [4] and near an artificial water hole between the evergreen forest and tea plantation. [3] Specimens have been recorded both in lower canopy and understorey vegetation and on the ground. [6] [3] [4] Its elevational range is 955–1,430 m (3,133–4,692 ft) above sea level. [4] Scientists note that one easy way to tell this frog apart from R. malabaricus is to obeserve the elevation at which the specimen was found: R. malabaricus lives closer to sea level. [5]

Reproduction takes place on vegetation overhanging marshy areas, ponds, and streams. [6] [4] The male frog's advertisement call resembles "trrr tik tik tik tik trrrr." Amplexus can last one hour. The female frog uses her hind legs and fluid from a gland near her cloaca to make a foam nest in which she deposits eggs, which the male subsequently fertilizes. The female frog will then cover the nest with leaves or grass using her front limbs. [5]

This species is known from at least two protected areas, Indira Gandhi National Park [1] and Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. [3] Outside the protected areas, it is threatened by habitat loss caused by conversion of forests to other uses as well as by timber extraction, [6] and conversion of forest to pastureland. [5]

Many nearby humans harbor a dislike for this frog: Cardamom farmers believe that the frog eats cardamom fruit and so consider the frog an agricultural pest. Scientists note that there is currently no evidence for or against this belief. Some farmers will pay others to catch and kill the frog. There is also a local belief that the frog is a bad omen, especially for pregnant women. [5]

This frog is one of many that is subject to capture for the illegal pet trade. [5]

Related Research Articles

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

The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly known as shrub frogs, or more ambiguously as "moss frogs" or "bush frogs". Some Rhacophoridae are called "tree frogs". Among the most spectacular members of this family are numerous "flying frogs".

<i>Rhacophorus</i> Genus of amphibians

Rhacophorus is a genus of frogs in the shrub frog family (Rhacophoridae) and the related Hylidae make up the true tree frogs. They are found in India, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Over 40 species are currently recognised.

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

The Malabar gliding frog or Malabar flying frog is a rhacophorid tree frog species found in the Western Ghats of India.

<i>Melanobatrachus</i> Species of amphibian

Melanobatrachus is a genus of narrow-mouthed frogs in the family Microhylidae. It is the only remaining genus in the monotypic subfamily Melanobatrachinae. It contains a single species, Melanobatrachus indicus, also known as the Indian black microhylid frog and Malabar black narrow-mouthed frog. It is endemic to wet evergreen forests of southern Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu states of India. It has been recorded from Anaimalai, Munnar, Palni hills, Periyar Tiger Reserve and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve

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

Uperodon anamalaiensis, also known as Anamalai dot frog, Anamalai ramanella, or reddish-brown microhylid frog, is a species of narrow-mouthed frog found in South India. The holotype was discovered at the base of the Anaimalai Hills, Coimbatore district in the southern Western Ghats. The holotype is missing and the status of the species was uncertain till 2010. Until rediscovered in the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary in 2010, this frog was reported only once by C. R. Narayan Rao in 1937.

<i>Raorchestes chalazodes</i> Species of frog from India

Raorchestes chalazodes is a species of critically endangered frog in the family Rhacophoridae. Raorchestes chalazodes is a nocturnal and arboreal species found in the understorey of tropical moist evergreen forest and is endemic to the Western Ghats of India. The specific name chalazodes is composed of the Greek word χάλαζα (chalaza) meaning "lump" and -odes for the derived adjective, reflecting white granulation of the body.

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

Raorchestes flaviventris is a species of arboreal, nocturnal, frog of the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, South India. Its common name is yellow-bellied bush frog.

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

Raorchestes glandulosus, also known as glandular bush frog, rough-skinned bush frog, southern bubble-nest frog, and with many other names, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India, and known from the states of Karnataka and Kerala.

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

Raorchestes signatus is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India.

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

Raorchestes tinniens, also known as the spotted bush frog, black bush frog, and Rao's bubble-nest frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills, a part of the Western Ghats, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, southern India. It has a rather complicated taxonomic history, and there is still an open issue whether Ixalus montanusGünther, 1876 from Kudremukh (Karnataka), now in synonymy with Raorchestes tinniens, is indeed a valid species.

<i>Pseudophilautus wynaadensis</i> Species of amphibian

Pseudophilautus wynaadensis, commonly known as the Wayanad bush frog, common bush frog, jerdon's bush frog,plain-colored bush frog, Malabar coast frog, or dark-eared bush frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of southwest India.

<i>Rhacophorus calcadensis</i> Species of amphibian

Rhacophorus calcadensis, also known as the Kalakad gliding frog, Kalakkad tree frog, and Langbian flying frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to the southern Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu states, India. Its name refers to its type locality, the town of Kalakkad in Tamil Nadu.

<i>Rhacophorus lateralis</i> Species of amphibian

Rhacophorus lateralis is a rhacophorid tree frog endemic to the Western Ghats in South India. It has several common names: small tree frog, Boulenger's tree frog, small gliding frog, and winged gliding frog. After its original description in 1883 by George Albert Boulenger, the frog was rediscovered in Coorg in 2000 and has since been found in many parts of the Western Ghats around southern Karnataka and northern Kerala. Along with R. malabaricus, it is one of the few anuran amphibians in India that constructs its nest above the ground using leaves.

<i>Rhacophorus rhodopus</i> Species of frog

Rhacophorus rhodopus is a species of frog in the moss frog family (Rhacophoridae). It occurs in south-eastern Asia, from India to southern China, and south to Malaysia. Previously unknown from Laos, it has now been found in Phongsali Province and at Luang Prabang. Its taxonomy is disputed.

Rhacophorus poecilonotus, also known as the Sumatra flying frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sumatra, Indonesia.

<i>Ghatixalus variabilis</i> Species of frog

Ghatixalus variabilis is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India. It has a number of common names, including green tree frog, though it is terrestrial rather than arboreal in its life style.

<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>Ghatixalus</i> Genus of amphibians

Ghatixalus is a genus of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae, subfamily Rhacophorinae. They are endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India. They are the sister taxon to a larger clade consisting of Chiromantis, Feihyla, Taruga, Polypedates, and Rhacophorus. The name of the genus combines words "Ghats" and "Ixalus". The former refers to the Western Ghats, and the latter to now-abandoned genus name that lives as the suffix in many generic names for rhacophorid frogs.

The Malabar frog is a frog in the family Ranidae found in the Western Ghats of India.

References

  1. 1 2 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2022). "Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022: e.T59016A166109863. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2021). "Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus Vasudevan and Dutta, 2000". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001 . Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jobin, K. M. & Nameer, P. O. (26 October 2012). "Diversity of rhacophorids (Amphibia: Anura) in Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, Kerala, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 4 (13): 3205–3214. doi: 10.11609/JoTT.o3081.3205-14 .
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Biju, S. D.; Kamei, Rachunliu G.; Mahony, Stephen; Thomas, Ashish; Garg, Sonali; Sircar, Gargi & Suyesh, Robin (2013). "Taxonomic review of the tree frog genus Rhacophorus from the Western Ghats, India (Anura: Rhacophoridae), with description of ontogenetic colour changes and reproductive behaviour". Zootaxa. 3636 (2): 257–289. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3636.2.3. PMID   26042293.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Amanda Lukas; Rachel Alsheikh; Jolina Liao (26 March 2018). Ann T. Chang (ed.). "Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus Vasudevan and Dutta, 2000". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 S.D. Biju, Sushil Dutta, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, Chelmala Srinivasulu, S.P. Vijayakumar (2004). "Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2004: e.T59016A11869234. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T59016A11869234.en . Retrieved 14 November 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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