Journal of Threatened Taxa (Apr 2015)

Pseudophilautus dilmah, a new species of shrub frog (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from a threatened habitat Loolkandura in Sri Lanka

  • L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe,
  • Imesh Nuwan Bandara,
  • Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana,
  • Kamani H. Tennakoon,
  • Sameera R. Samarakoon,
  • Nethu Wickramasinghe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3501.7089-110
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 5
pp. 7089 – 7110

Abstract

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A new species of shrub frog Pseudophilautus dilmah is described from the Central Hills of Sri Lanka. This unique species is distinguished from all the other congeners from a combination of characters; snout rounded in lateral aspect, bluntly pointed in dorsal and ventral aspect, canthus rostralis rounded, vomerine teeth, lingual papilla and nuptial pads absent, dermal fringe distinct on inside of fingers III and IV, small blunt tubercles on metacarpal and ulnar folds, toes basally webbed, interorbital area smooth, upper eyelid prominent tubercles present, anterior and posterior dorsum without horny spinules but tubercles present, upper part of flank weakly granular, supratympanic fold distinct, prominent small calcar present at the distal end of the tibia, throat granular, chest and belly coarsely granular. Based on comparison of 16s rRNA gene we also show that the species is genetically distinct from other members of Pseudophilautus for which gene sequences are available. The high rate of deforestation and anthropogenic activities threaten this population in its natural habitat.

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