Rhacophorus tuberculatus (Anderson, 1871)

Naveen, R. S., Liu, Shuo, Chandramouli, S. R., Babu, S., Karunakaran, P. V. & Kumara, Honnavalli N., 2023, Redescription of Rhacophorus tuberculatus (Anderson, 1871) and the validity of Rhacophorus verrucopus Huang, 1983, Herpetozoa 36, pp. 325-333 : 325

Rhacophorus tuberculatus (Anderson, 1871)

Polypedates tuberculatus Anderson, 1871.

Rhacophorus tuberculata - Boulenger, 1882.

Rhacophorus (Rhacophorus) tuberculatus - Ahl, 1931.

Rhacophorus schlegelii tuberculatus - Wolf, 1936.

Rhacophorus verrucopus Huang, 1983, syn. nov.

Rhacophorus tuberculatus - Inger, 1985.

Rhacophorus (Rhacophorus) verrucopus - Dubois, 1987 «1986».

Redescription

of Rhacophorus tuberculatus (Anderson, 1871). Specimens examined: ZSI 10154, lectotype by present designation, adult female, collected by Anderson from "Seebsaugor, Assam"; SACON VA - 143, 144, 145, 146, 147 and 148, adult males collected from near Sasatgre (25.5250°N, 90.3350°E, ca. 940 m asl.) by RSN between 13th - 26th May 2020 and SACON VA - 800 Adult female collected from near Baladingre (25.514213°N, 90.398204°E, ca. 835 m asl.) by RSN on 26th February 2022.

Diagnosis.

Rhacophorus tuberculatus can be differentiated from all known congeners by the following suite of external morphological characters: small to medium adult size (mean SVL 29.4 mm; range 27.0-30.9 mm); distinct tympanum, almost half as large as the eye; absence of vomerine teeth; presence of a prominent calcar at tibio-tarsal articulation; presence of partial, sheath-like webbing on fingers and fully developed webbing on toes; well-developed and expanded discs on toes; and a dorsal colouration of uniform pale brown with mild traces of an irregular patch on the head and mossy greenish patches near the shoulders in some individuals.

Description of Lectotype

(Fig. 2 ). Head flat, almost as long as wide (HL:HW 1.03); snout slightly pointed in dorsal view, rounded in lateral aspect, projecting slightly beyond margin of the lower jaw; canthus rostralis distinct, bluntly angular; nostrils much closer to tip of snout than eye; eyes large (ED:HL 0.39); tympanum distinct almost half as large as eye (TYD:ED 0.41); Supra-tympanic fold distinct, originating from the posterior of eye to the axilla; Upper eyelids wide, (UEW 2.86), narrower than the interorbital space (UEW:IO 0.62). Inter-orbital space broader than the inter-narial space (IO:IN 1.33). Upper arms short (UAL:SVL 0.17), shorter than the lower arms (UAL:LAL 0.85); palm length longer than the upper arms (UAL:PAL 0.69); pointed projection (calcar) at tibio-tarsal articulation; relative length of fingers I <II <IV <III, tips of all fingers with well-developed discs with distinct circum-marginal grooves. Fingers partially webbed. Relative length of toes I <II <III <V <IV; tips of toes with well-developed disks with distinct circum-marginal grooves; disks smaller than those of toes. Dorsal skin smooth; flanks wrinkled; underside of chin and chest smooth, abdomen and thigh coarsely granular; the granulation much denser around the cloacal region; outer margin of both limbs with low dermal ridges.

Colouration in preservative.

Dorsal colouration uniformly pale brown with mild traces of an irregular bluish black patch on the head. Ventral aspect of body pale cream coloured (Fig. 2 ).

Colouration in life of frogs recorded from Meghalaya.

Dorsum, overall pale to medium brown in colour with small scattered black dots and three or four dark blackish brown transverse bands across the thigh and tibial region, tarsus feet and webbing between toes orangeish-red in colour. Webbing in fingers translucently yellow. Ventral sides mild brownish white and groins, thighs and the rest of the legs brownish yellow to dark red in colour. Some individuals with irregular florescent green patches on the head and mid body region (Fig. 4 ).

Natural history.

The specimens of R. tuberculatus from Meghalaya examined during this study were collected from two different locations within West Garo Hills. A small shallow stream running parallel to the eastern boundary of the Sasatgre community reserve, the stream was bounded on both side by cardamom and banana plantations. The frogs were encountered at 1900 - 2300 hrs in the month of May, found perched on leaves of yam and cardamom plants, one to two meters above ground level. The other location was a similar habitat from another cardamom plantation near a forest patch near Baladingre village.

Figures

Figure 2. The ventral and dorsal view of the lectotype of Rhacophorus tuberculatus ZSI 10154.

Figure 4. Rhacophorous tuberculatus in life from Garo hills, Meghalaya.