Minervarya andamanensis species group

Garg, Sonali, Chandrakasan, Sivaperuman, Gokulakrishnan, G., Gopika, C., Das, Indraneil & S. D. Biju,, 2022, The curious case of Charles Darwin's frog, Rana charlesdarwini Das, 1998: Phylogenetic position and generic placement, with taxonomic insights on other minervaryan frogs (Dicroglossidae: Minervarya) in the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, Vertebrate Zoology 72, pp. 169-199 : 169

Minervarya andamanensis species group

Members included.

Minervarya charlesdarwini , M. andamanensis , M. muangkanensis , and M. nicobariensis .

Morphological definition.

This group can be distinguished from other minervaryan groups by the following suite of characters (revised after Garg and Biju 2021): small to large-sized adults (male SVL 24-50 mm, female SVL 30-72 mm); elongate to robust body; dorsal skin shagreened to sparsely granular, or with prominent glandular warts; dorsum with or without weakly developed short discontinuous skin folds or chevron mark at the centre of dorsum; upper ⅔rd of tympanum and inner margin of tympanic fold dark brown; groin without prominent reticulations; thighs with or without reticulations; foot webbing moderate, below the third subarticular tubercle on either side of toe IV; long and cylindrical inner metatarsal tubercles.

Furthermore, Minervarya charlesdarwini , M. andamanensis and M. nicobariensis are placed in the genus due to the following suite of characters: omosternum unforked; vomerine ridge with weakly developed teeth; absence of lingual papilla; presence of fejervaryan lines; finger and toe tips rounded with slightly swollen discs, without circum-marginal grooves; and foot webbing not extending up to the toe tips.

Distribution.

Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago of India (Fig. 2 ), Myanmar ( Köhler et al. 2019), and Thailand ( Suwannapoom et al. 2017).

Note.

Garg and Biju (2021) provisionally placed Minervarya marathi in this group. Based on the results of our present study, M. marathi is phylogenetically more closely related to members of the M. rufescens group, rather than M. andamanensis group. Hence, we exclude M. marathi from the M. andamanensis group, and recommend further detailed studies to ascertain the systematic affinities of the taxon.

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Minervarya species in the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago. A Location of the Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. B Expanded view of the Andaman and Nicobar groups of islands. C Minervarya nicobariensis in the Nicobar Islands. D Minervarya charlesdarwini in the Andaman Islands. E Minervarya andamanensis in the Andaman Islands. F Minervarya agricola in the Andaman Islands.