Sexual dimorphism in the Kudremukh Bush Frog (Anura: Rhacophoridae: Raorchestes tuberohumerus) of the Western Ghats, India, with a note on its distribution and conservation status

Main Article Content

Anand D. Padhye
Anushree Jadhav
Shauri Sulakhe
Neelesh Dahanukar

Abstract

Raorchestes tuberohumerus (Kuramoto & Joshy, 2003) was described based on three male specimens and was diagnosed mainly based on the presence of tubercle on the humerus.  Here we describe the genetically confirmed female of the species and show that tubercle on the humeral bone is a sexually dimorphic character present only in males.  Further, based on current collection and literature review we studied the distribution of the species using niche based modelling. Using the distributional range and our observations on the threats to the habitat we propose that Raorchestes tuberohumerus, currently assessed as Data Deficient, can fall under the ‘Vulnerable’ category of IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 

 

Article Details

Section
Communications
Author Biographies

Anand D. Padhye, Department of Zoology, Abasaheb Garware College, Karve Road, Pune, Maharashtra 411004, India

Anand D. Padhye is an Associate Professor in Zoology, Abasaheb Garware College, Pune. He works on systematics, ecology, diversity, distribution and evolution of amphibians.  

 

Anushree Jadhav, Department of Zoology, Abasaheb Garware College, Karve Road, Pune, Maharashtra 411004, India; Present address: Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Ganeshkhind, Pune, Maharashtra 411007, India

Anushree Jadhav has completed her Masters in Biodiversity at Abasaheb Garware College, Department of Biodiversity. She is currently pursuing her M.Phil from Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University.  

 

Shauri Sulakhe, Insearch Outdoors, C-26/9, Ketan Heights, Rahul Nagar Lane, Near Karve Statue, Kothrud, Pune. Maharashtra 411038, India

Shauri Sulakhe is a Founder-Director of Insearch Outdoors, an environment tourism organization in Pune. He is also a freelance field worker interested in wildlife photography and natural history.  

 

Neelesh Dahanukar, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), G1 Block, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, Maharashtra 411008, India; and Systematics, Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO), 96 Kumudham Nagar, Vilankurichi Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India

Neelesh Dahanukar works in ecology and evolution with an emphasis on mathematical and statistical analysis. He is also interested in taxonomy, distribution patterns and molecular phylogeny.

 

References

Biju, S.D., Y. Shouche, A. Dubois, S.K. Dutta & F. Bossuyt (2010). A ground-dwelling rhacophorid frog from the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats of India. Current Science 98(8): 1119–1125.

Biju, S.D. & F. Bossuyt (2009). Systematics and phylogeny of Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of 12 new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155: 374–444; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x

Bossuyt, F., K. Roelants, L. Spithoven & M.H. Daro (2001). Philautus bombayensis (Bombay Oriental Shrub Frog) reproduction. Herpetological Review 32(1): 34–35.

Das, I. (2004). Raorchestes tuberohumerus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. . Downloaded on 27 November 2014.

Edgar, R.C. (2004). MUSCLE: multiple sequence alignment with high accuracy and high throughput. Nucleic Acids Research, 32: 1792–1797; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkh340

Emerson, S.B. & H. Voris (1992). Competing explanations for sexual dimorphism in a voiceless Bornean frog. Functional Ecology 6: 654–660; http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2389960

Emerson, S.B. (1996). Phylogenies and physiological processes—the evolution of sexual dimorphism in southeast Asian frogs. Systematic Biology 45: 278–289; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/45.3.278

Gururaja, K.V. (2012). Pictorial Guide to Frogs and Toads of the Western Ghats. Gubbi Labs Publication, 154pp+xviii.

Gururaja, K.V. & T.V. Ramachandra (2012). Anuran Diversity and Distribution in Dandeli Anshi Tiger Reserve. Sahyadri Conservation Series: 8. ENVIS Technical Report 37. Sahyadri: Environmental Information System (ENVIS), Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, 57pp.

Hammer, Ø., D.A.T. Harper & P.D. Ryan (2001). PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4(1): 1–9.

Hijmans, R.J., S.E. Cameron, J.L. Parra, P.G. Jones & A. Jarvis (2005). Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. International Journal of Climatology 25: 1965–1978; http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.1276

IUCN (2012). IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. Second edition. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, IUCN, UK, iv+32pp.

Kumara, H.N., A.K. Sharma, A. Kumar & M. Singh (2000). Roadkills of wild fauna in Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India: implications for management. Biological Conservation 3: 41–47.

Kuramoto, M. & S.H. Joshy (2003). Two new species of the genus Philautus (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Western Ghats, southwestern India. Current Herpetology 22: 51–60.

Molur, S., K. Krutha, M.S. Paingankar & N. Dahanukar (2015). Asian strain of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is widespread in the Western Ghats, India. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 112: 251–255; http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/dao02804

Nei, M. & S. Kumar (2000). Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics. Oxford University Press, New York, 333pp.

Padhye, A.D. & H.V. Ghate (2012). Amphibia. Fauna of Maharashtra, Zoological Survey of India State Fauna Series 20(1): 239–246.

Padhye, A.D., A. Sayyed, A. Jadhav & N. Dahanukar (2013). Raorchestes ghatei, a new species of shrub frog (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5: 4913–4931;

http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3702.4913-31

Ramchurjee, N.A. (2013). Impacts of ecotourism in Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Nagarhole), Karnataka. Environment, development and sustainability 15(6): 1517–1525.

Sahr, K., D. White & A.J. Kimerling (2003). Geodesic discrete global grid systems. Cartography and Geographic Information Science 30 (2): 121–134.

Schwarz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics 6: 461–464.

Seshadri, K.S., A. Yadav & K.V. Gururaja (2009). Road kills of amphibians in different land use areas from Sharavathi River basin, central Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(11): 549–552; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2148.549-52

Tamura, K., G. Stecher, D. Peterson, A. Filipski & S. Kumar (2013). MEGA6: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 6.0. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30: 2725–2729; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst197

Most read articles by the same author(s)

<< < 1 2