Uperodon nagaoi

Last updated

Uperodon nagaoi
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Genus: Uperodon
Species:
U. nagaoi
Binomial name
Uperodon nagaoi
(Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001)
Synonyms [2]
  • Ramanella nagaoi Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001 [3]

Uperodon nagaoi, also known as the Nagao's pug-snout frog [2] [4] or Nagao's globular frog, [2] [5] is a species of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka and is known from the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, and Western Provinces. [2] [5] The specific name nagaoi honours Eijiro Nagao, president of Marusan Securities who, through the Nagao Environmental Foundation, has supported research on Sri Lankan amphibians. [4]

Contents

Description

Adult males measure 26–30 mm (1.0–1.2 in) [3] [5] and adult females 27–32 mm (1.1–1.3 in) in snout–vent length. [3] The head is wider than it is long. The snout is truncate in dorsal view and rounded in lateral view. The tympanum is not externally visible but a tympanic ridge is present. The fingers have lateral dermal fringes and triangularly dilated tips. The toes have rudimentary webbing and slightly truncate or rounded, enlarged, fleshy and smooth tips. The colouration is dark brown. There are yellow spots near the eyes and on the upper lip. Reddish-orange patches are present on the snout, sides of the dorsum, abdomen, and around the vent and on the limbs. Males have an externally visible gular vocal sac. [3]

Habitat and conservation

Uperodon nagaoi are terrestrial and arboreal as adults and prefer lowland moist forest habitats. [1] There are records from about 125–150 m (410–492 ft) above sea level. [1] [5] Breeding takes place in tree holes where the tadpoles also develop. [1] It appears to be an obligate tree hole breeder. One female was found submerged in a tree hole, with an egg clutch adhering to the wall few centimeters above the water level. This suggests that parental care might be present. [5]

Uperodon nagaoi is known to occur in the Kanneliya Forest Reserve (its type locality) [1] [3] as well as in the Hiyare Forest Reserve. [5]

Behavior

The frog is noted to have a possibly mutualistic relationship with tarantulas such as Poecilotheria ornata and Poecilotheria subfusca , sharing tree holes of which some were observed to contain eggs and/or juveniles from the spider, frog, or both. As observed between frog Chiasmocleis ventrimaculata and tarantula Xenesthis immanis, the spider may protect the frog from predators while the frog protects the spider's eggs from ants. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Uperodon</i>

Uperodon is a genus of microhylid frogs. They occur in South Asia and Myanmar. Uperodon reached its current composition in 2016 when the genus Ramanella was brought into its synonymy. The common names of these frogs are globular frogs and balloon frogs in reference to their stout appearance, or dot frogs, the last specifically referring to the former Ramanella.

<i>Uperodon taprobanicus</i>

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".

Adenomus kandianus is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae endemic to Sri Lanka. It is a high-altitude species known only from few localities. The specific name kandianus means "from Kandy" and seems to suggest that the type material came from near the city of Kandy.

<i>Uperodon obscurus</i>

Uperodon obscurus is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forest.

<i>Uperodon palmatus</i>

Uperodon palmatus is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to the central hills of Sri Lanka. Common names Parker's dot frog, Parker's globular frog, and half-webbed pug-snout frog have been coined for it.

Pseudophilautus dimbullae is an extinct species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It was endemic to Sri Lanka. It is only known from the holotype collected in 1933.

Pseudophilautus extirpo, known as Blunt-snouted Shrub Frog, is an extinct species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It was endemic to Sri Lanka. It is only known from the holotype collected in 1882. The specific name extirpo is Latin meaning "destroy" or "eradicate" and refers to the apparent extinction of this species.

<i>Pseudophilautus schmarda</i>

Pseudophilautus schmarda is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the central hills of Sri Lanka and is known from the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, Agra Bopath, Horton Plains, and Pedro. The specific name schmarda honours Ludwig Karl Schmarda, an Austrian physician, naturalist, and traveler. Common names Sri Lanka bug-eyed frog and Schmarda's shrub frog have been coined for it.

<i>Pseudophilautus variabilis</i>

Pseudophilautus variabilis, also known as the variable bush frog or variable bubble-nest frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. This now extinct species was endemic to Sri Lanka. Despite extensive searches in recent times, it is only known from collections prior to 1858. The reasons for its disappearance are unknown but probably involve habitat loss.

<i>Pseudophilautus viridis</i>

Pseudophilautus viridis, or the dull-green shrub frog, is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka and occurs in the central hills of south-central Sri Lanka.

<i>Taruga eques</i>

Taruga eques is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to the central hills of Sri Lanka.

Taruga fastigo is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka and only known from its type locality, Morningside Estate near Rakwana. Prior to its description in 2001, it was confused with Polypedates eques.

Pseudophilautus pardus is an extinct species of Sri Lankan shrub frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. Despite extensive surveys in recent years, the species is known only from a collection made prior to 1858. The reason for its extinction is unknown but probably relates loss of forests.

<i>Pseudophilautus</i>

Pseudophilautus is a genus of shrub frogs in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India and to Sri Lanka where the majority of the species are found. Many of them are already extinct. On the other, some species believed to be extinct have also been rediscovered.

Taruga is a genus of frogs endemic to Sri Lanka. They are the only foam-nesting tree frogs in the Old World Tree frog family, Rhacophoridae.

Rohan Pethiyagoda

Rohan David Pethiyagoda, is one of Sri Lanka's leading naturalists and a taxonomist on Freshwater fish of Sri Lanka.

<i>Pseudophilautus semiruber</i>

Pseudophilautus semiruber, known as Annandale's Shrub Frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae that is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Pseudophilautus simba is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to Sri Lanka. It is only known from its type locality in the Morningside Forest Reserve, adjacent to the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, near Rakwana, southern Sri Lanka.

Pseudophilautus singu is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae, endemic to southwestern Sri Lanka. It is known from the Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya, Kitulgala, and Kottawa Forest Reserves and from the Sinharaja World Heritage Site. The specific name singu is Sinhalese for "horn" and refers to the horn-like tubercles on the upper eyelids of this frog. Common name Sri Lanka short-horned shrub frog has been coined for it.

<i>Pseudophilautus tanu</i>

Sri Lanka petite shrub frog,, is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae, endemic to southwestern Sri Lanka. This relatively recently described species is only known from two locations in the Galle District, Beraliya and Kanneliya Forest Reserves. The specific name tanu is Sinhalese for "slender" and refers to the habitus of this frog.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Uperodon nagaoi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T57988A156578796. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Uperodon nagaoi (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Manamendra-Arachchi, K. & Pethiyagoda, R. (2001). "Ramanella nagaoi, a new tree-hole frog (Microhylidae) from southern Sri Lanka". Journal of South Asian Natural History. 5 (2): 121–133.
  4. 1 2 Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (22 April 2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 152. ISBN   978-1-907807-44-2.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Garg, Sonali; Senevirathne, Gayani; Wijayathilaka, Nayana; Phuge, Samadhan; Deuti, Kaushik; Manamendra-Arachchi, Kelum; Meegaskumbura, Madhava & Biju, S. D. (2018). "An integrative taxonomic review of the South Asian microhylid genus Uperodon". Zootaxa. 4384 (1): 1–88. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4384.1.1. PMID   29689915.
  6. ↑ Naish, Darren. "Tiny Frogs and Giant Spiders: Best of Friends". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.