Philautus charius, RAO, 1937
publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x |
DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5492413 |
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F5945F-FFB7-1E5D-FEF6-FC35FAACC135 |
treatment provided by |
Felipe |
scientific name |
Philautus charius |
status |
|
PHILAUTUS CHARIUS RAO, 1937 View in CoL
( FIGS 2 View Figure 2 , 14D View Figure 14 , 20 View Figure 20 ; TABLE 2)
Type material: Neotype, MNHN 1999.5597 About MNHN , an adult male, SVL 29.0 mm, from the hills around Chikmalagur (i.e. Chikmagalur), Chikmalagur district, Karnataka, India ( Bossuyt & Dubois, 2001).
Other material studied: BNHS 4420 View Materials and BNHS 4421 View Materials , two adult males, from Chikmagalur; BNHS 4422 View Materials and BNHS 4423 View Materials , two adult males, from Mercara; BNHS 4424 View Materials , an adult male, from Kottigehara; SDB 40213 , an adult male, from Muthodi ( Table 2).
Diagnosis: Philautus charius can be distinguished from known congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) medium male adult size (27.2– 31.4 mm, N = 7); (2) dorsum with small horny spinules; (3) groin and posterior part of thighs uniform brownish black with large yellow blotches; (4) short head (HL/ SVL = 0.309 –0.345, N = 7) GoogleMaps .
Philautus charius , P. coonoorensis sp. nov., and P. griet form a strongly supported clade in our phylogenetic analyses ( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). These three species can be easily differentiated from each other on the basis of the characters listed below.
Philautus charius : (1) medium male adult size (27.2–31.4 mm, N = 7); (2) snout shorter than, or subequal to the horizontal diameter of the eye; (3) groin brownish black with yellow blotches; (4) posterior surface of thighs uniform brownish black with large yellow blotches; (5) relatively short hindlimbs, ShL/ SVL ratio <0.5.
Philautus coonoorensis sp. nov.: (1) small male adult size (20.7–23.8 mm, N = 5); (2) snout clearly longer than horizontal diameter of the eye; (3) groin light grey with dark-brown patches; (4) posterior surface of thighs dark brown with variable size of grey patches; (5) relatively long hindlimbs, ShL/SVL ratio> 0.5.
Philautus griet : (1) small male adult size (19.7– 22.4 mm, N = 5); (2) snout shorter than, or subequal to the horizontal diameter of the eye; (3) groin light brown with minute white marbling; (4) posterior surface of thighs brown with minute grey spots; (5) relatively short hindlimbs, ShL/SVL ratio <0.5.
Description of the neotype: A detailed description was published in Bossuyt & Dubois (2001).
Variation: Measurements are given in Table 2.
Colour variation in life: dorsum usually light brown with various numbers of deep-brown irregular patches, a brown stripe between the eyes demarcates a triangular grey snout, loreal and tympanic regions light brown with black spots, a pair of greyish brown concave bands extending from below the level of the eye to the groin ( Fig. 20 View Figure 20 ); iris light brown, encircled with thin greyish outer ring. Dorsal side of limbs with dark-grey cross bands. However, the groins and posterior part of the thighs are invariably uniform brownish black with large yellow blotches.
Distribution and natural history: Chikmagalur, Muthodi, Mercara, and Kottigehara in Karnataka ( Fig. 14D View Figure 14 , Table 1). These frogs mostly call from about 0.5 to 1.5-m high on the stems of shrubs.
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