Description of a new species of Pseudophilautus (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae) from southern Sri Lanka
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
We describe a new Pseudophilautus species, P. conniffae sp. nov. from southern Sri Lanka. It was previously confused with Pseudophilautus rus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda). The new species differs from the latter by the combination of the following characters: fourth toe webbing to penultimate subarticular tubercle on inner and outer sides (vs. fourth toe webbing in between penultimate and anetpenultimate subarticular tubercles on inner and outer sides), presence of conical median lingual process (vs. absent), and black patches on the posterior flank, anterior and posterior edges of the thigh (vs. black patches on the anterior surface of the thigh). Pseudophilautus conniffae sp. nov. may be sympatric with P. limbus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda), which shares certain characters with the new species. The new species is, however, distinguished from P. limbus by the following characters: having supernumerary tubercles on manus (vs. lacking), absence of frontoparietal ridges (vs. presence), fourth toe webbing to penultimate subarticular tubercle on both sides (vs. fourth toe webbing between penultimate and anetpenultimate subarticular tubercle on both sides), third toe webbing to distal subarticular tubercle on both sides (vs. distal subarticular tubercle on outer side and below penultimate subarticular tubercle on inner side), and having the dorsum light brown with dark brown patches (vs. black and yellow variegated pattern on dorsum). The new species may be restricted to the southwestern wet zone of Sri Lanka. It is compared with all known Pseudophilautus species and also provided with a field key to identify it from those species that are sympatric with it or inhabit the southwestern wet zone.
Article Details
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
References
Biju, S.D. & F. Bossuyt (2009). A review of the frog genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae, Rhacophorinae). Zeylanica 6: 1–112.
Bossuyt, F. & A. Dubois (2001). Systematics and phylogeny of Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of twelve new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155: 374–444.
Bossuyt, F., M. Meegaskumbura, N. Beenaerts, D.J. Gower, R. Pethiyagoda, K. Roelants, A. Mannaert, M. Wilkinson, M.M. Bahir, K. Manamendra-Arachchi, P.K.L. Ng, C.J. Schneider, O.V. Oommen & M.C. Milinkovitch (2004). Local endemism within the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Science 306: 479–481.
Cocroft, R.B. & M.J. Ryan (1995). Patterns of advertisement call evolution in toads and chorus frogs. Animal Behaviour 49(2): 283–303.
Dinesh, K.P., C. Radhakrishnan, B.H. Channakeshavamurthy, P. Deepak & N.U. Kulkarni (2017). Checklist of amphibians of India (updated till April 2017). Available online at http://mhadeiresearchcenter.org/resources. Accessed on 02 August 2018.
Grant, T., E.C. Humphrey & C.W. Myers (1997). The median lingual process of frogs: a bizarre character of Old World ranoids discovered in south American dendrobatids. American Museum Novitates 3212: 1–40.
Manamendra-Arachchi, K. & R. Pethiyagoda (2005). The Sri Lankan shrub-frogs of the genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae), with description of 27 new species. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 12: 163–303.
Manamendra-Arachchi, K. & R. Pethiyagoda (2006). Amphibians of Sri Lanka (in Sinhala). Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, Colombo, 440pp.
Meegaskumbura, M. & K. Manamendra-Arachchi (2005). Descriptions of eight new species of shrub frogs (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae: Philautus) from Sri Lanka. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 12: 305–338.
Meegaskumbura, M. & K. Manamendra-Arachchi (2011). Two new species of shrub frogs (Rhacophoridae: Pseudophilautus) from Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 2747: 1–18.
Meegaskumbura, M., K. Manamendra-Arachchi, C.J. Schneider & R. Pethiyagoda (2007). New species amongst Sri Lanka’s extinct shrub frogs (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae: Philautus). Zootaxa 1397: 1–15.
Meegaskumbura, M., K. Manamendra-Arachchi & R. Pethiyagoda (2009). Two new species of shrub frogs (Rhacophoridae: Philautus) from the lowlands of Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 2122: 51–68.
Mittermeier, R.A., N. Myers, J.B. Thomsen, G.A.B. da Fonseca & S. Olivieri (1998). Biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas: approaches to setting conservation priorities. Conservation Biology 12(3): 516–520.
Myers, N., R.A. Mittermeier, C.G. Mittermeier, G.A.B. da Fonseca & J. Kent (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858.
Wickramasinghe, L.J.M., D.A.I. Munindradasa & P. Fernando (2012). A new species of Polypedates Tschudi (Amphibia, Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 3498: 63–80.
Wickramasinghe, L.J.M., D.R. Vidanapathirana, M.D.G. Rajeev, S.C. Ariyarathne, A.W.A. Chanaka, L.L.D. Priyantha, I.N. Bandara & N. Wickramasinghe (2013a). Eight new species of Pseudophilautus (Amphibia, Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Sripada World Heritage Site (Peak Wilderness), a local amphibian hotspot in Sri Lanka. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(4): 3789–3920; https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3099.3789-920
Wickramasinghe, L.J.M., D.R. Vidanapathirana, S. Ariyarathne, G. Rajeev, A. Chanaka, J. Pastorini, G. Chathuranga & N. Wickramasinghe (2013b). Lost and found: One of the world’s most elusive amphibian Pseudophilautus stellatus (Kelaart, 1853) rediscovered. Zootaxa 3620: 112–128.
Wickramasinghe, L.J.M., D. R. Vidanapathirana, G. Rajeev & N. Wickramasinghe (2013c). Rediscovery of Pseudophilautus hypomelas (Günther, 1876) (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Peak Wilderness, Sri Lanka, a species thought to be extinct!. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(17): 5181–5193; https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3547.5181-93
Wickramasinghe, L.J.M., I.N. Bandara, D.R. Vidanapathirana, K.H. Tennakoon, S.R. Samarakoon & N. Wickramasinghe (2015). Pseudophilautus dilmah, a new species of shrub frog (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from a threatened habitat Loolkandura in Sri Lanka. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(5): 7089–7110; https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3501.7089-110