Kalophrynus orangensis Dutta, Ahmed, and Das, 2000 Indian Striped Sticky Frog

Zug, George R., 2015, Morphology and Systematics of Kalophrynus interlineatus-pleurostigma Populations (Anura: Microhylidae: Kalophryninae) and a Taxonomy of the Genus Kalophrynus Tschudi, Asian Sticky Frogs, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 62 (5), pp. 135-190 : 171-172

Kalophrynus orangensis Dutta, Ahmed, and Das, 2000 Indian Striped Sticky Frog

Figure 6 .

Kalophrynus orangensis Dutta, Ahmed, and Das, 2000, Hamadryad 25:68 [type locality: “ Orang National Park (26°30′N; 92°15´E), Darrang District, Assam, north-eastern India ”] .

TYPE MATERIAL.— HOLOTYPE: Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata A 9087 . PARATYPES: ZSI A9088–91. All specimens by original designation.

DEFINITION.— Medium-sized, adult females to 35–38 mm SVL (n = 3), adult males 36–38 mm SVL (n = 2); head modest length NA % HeadL/ SVL; head wider than long 118–133 % HeadW/ SVL; snout moderately broad?38–43 % SnW/HeadL; naris closer to snout than to eye NA?72–80 % NarEye/SnEye; eye moderate?42–44 % EyeD/HeadL; tympanum visible and nearly as large as eye?83–94 % Tymp/ SVL; moderate length forelimb NA % Forarm/ SVL and forearm equal crus length NA % Forarm/CrusL; hindlimb moderately long NA % HndlL/ SVL, NA % CrusL/ SVL, and NA % CrusL/ThghL; hindfoot well developed NA % HndfL/CrusL; limb measurements not reported. Question marks preceding data indicate uncertainty of original data.

Vomerine teeth presence or absence not reported; palatal fold morphology not reported; tongue elongate with rounded tip.

Fingers not webbed; lengths 3>2>1>4; tips rounded and not dilated; subarticular tubercles round, one beneath fingers 1, 2 and 4, two beneath finger 3; fleshy palmar tubercle, size and shape not reported. Toes webbed at base, lengths 4>3>5>2>1; tips rounded, not dilated; large round subarticular tubercles, one of 1 and 2, two on 3 and 5, and 3 on 4; small, round inner and outer metatarsal tubercles.

In life, dorsum reddish brown to cream with dark brown reverse-Y shaped mark with base between eyes, bifurcating on nape and limbs extending diagonally to top of hindlimbs, distinct narrow white stripe from above eyes to shoulder and extending diagonally to mid inguina; black white-edged inguinal ocellus. Venter yellowish cream with black speckled throat and anterior chest.

ETYMOLOGY.— The specific name derives from the type locality, Orang National Park.

DISTRIBUTION.— ( Fig. 6 ) Presently known from the type locality in Orang National Park (26°30´N, 92°15´E) in central Assam, India, and two other localities: West Bengal, India ( Paul et al. 2007); Mymensignh , Bangladesh (Mahony and Ali Reza 2007). All three localities are within the lower middle portion of the Brahmaputra River drainage.

NATURAL HISTORY. — The individuals from the type series were found on the ground [litter] in grassland adjacent to dry deciduous forest [secondary] or among trees at forest edging on grassland. Breeding occurred in this area in June with females depositing eggs in small puddles; males called beneath vegetation overhanging these puddles. The West Bengal individual was found 60 cm high in a bush in a primary semi-evergreen forest. No habitat data are available for the Bangladesh specimen.

COMMENTS.— Preceding information extracted from Dutta et al. (2000). Question marks in the Definition indicate my uncertainty on the accuracy of the proportions.

K. orangensis is recently described and is based on five adult specimens, three females and two males. Because the variation in head striping and outer metatarsal tubercle size, the two major diagnostic features identified by Dutta et al. (2000), were encompassed in a wider sample of Thai and Vietnamese K. interlineatus, Ohler and Grosjean (2005) proposed that Assam and Indochinese specimens were conspecific; they thus considered K. orangensis a junior synonym of K. interlineatus . Matsui and colleagues (2009, 2011, 2012) continued to recognize K. orangensis as a valid species. An additional difficulty in evaluating the status of this species is presumed errors in the measurements of the head of the type series ( Dutta et al. 2000: table 1; see comments in Morphometric subsection of the above Morphology and Variation section). I have not examined any specimens of this population, and even though, this taxon is poorly characterized in its original description, I hesitate to consider it a synonym without a thorough comparison. Additionally, recent molecular analyses have demonstrated considerable genetic diversity in Kalophrynus , hence the geographic isolation of the Indian populations likely will be matched by their genetic uniqueness.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Burmese distribution of voucher specimens of Kalophrynus anya sp. nov. in northern Myanmar and K. inter- lineatus in southern and peninsular Myanmar. The three report- ed localities of K. orangensis are also shown; all lie within the Brahmaputra river valley. Solid circles denote specimens exam- ined in this study; open circles are literature or unexamined museum records; and stars represent type localities of available names.