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Pseudophilautus karunarathnai sp. nov. holotype (NMSL 2013.04.01 NH), head; (A) lateral aspect (B) dorsal aspect (C) ventral aspect. Scale bar: 2mm. (© Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana)
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Eight new species of Pseudophilautus (Pseudophilautus bambaradeniyai, P. dayawansai, P. jagathgunawardanai, P. karunarathnai, P. newtonjayawardanei, P. puranappu, P. samarakoon, and P. sirilwijesundarai) were discovered as a result of a survey carried out to study the herpetofaunal diversity with the changes in elevation in the Sripada World Herita...
Citations
... The genus Pseudophilautus currently contains 59 extant species in Sri Lanka [5]. Many of these were described relatively recently [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Some of these species are cryptic and hence difficult to identify from morphology alone, though validated in molecular analyses; others (e.g., [20,21]) are based on morphological data alone. ...
... Many of these were described relatively recently [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Some of these species are cryptic and hence difficult to identify from morphology alone, though validated in molecular analyses; others (e.g., [20,21]) are based on morphological data alone. As of now, molecular data are available, at least for a single locus, for 49 of the 59 extant Sri Lankan Pseudophilautus (See S1 Table). ...
... We included the 104 individualsof Pseudophilautus previously analysed by [14][15][16][17][18][19][20], for which molecular data were available in Genbank, and also provided in [2]. Initially, we retrieved all the molecular data under the key words "Pseudophilautus" and "Philautus" in Genbank, along with their specific voucher numbers, and pooled these with the data provided by [2]. ...
Sri Lanka is an amphibian hotspot of global significance. Its anuran fauna is dominated by the shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus . Except for one small clade of four species in Peninsular India, these cool-wet adapted frogs, numbering some 59 extant species, are distributed mainly across the montane and lowland rain forests of the island. With species described primarily by morphological means, the diversification has never yet been subjected to a molecular species delimitation analysis, a procedure now routinely applied in taxonomy. Here we test the species boundaries of Pseudophilautus in the context of the phylogenetic species concept (PSC). We use all the putative species for which credible molecular data are available (nDNA–Rag-1; mt-DNA– 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA) to build a well resolved phylogeny, which is subjected to species delimitation analyses. The ABGD, bPTP, mPTP and bGMYC species delimitation methods applied to the 16S rRNA frog barcoding gene (for all species), 12S rRNA and Rag-1 nDNA grouped P . procax and P . abundus ; P . hallidayi and P . fergusonianu s; P . reticulatus and P . pappilosus ; P . pleurotaenia and P . hoipolloi ; P . hoffmani and P . asankai ; P . silvaticus and P . limbus ; P . dilmah and P . hankeni ; P . fulvus and P . silus .. Surprisingly, all analyses recovered 14 unidentified potential new species as well. The geophylogeny affirms a distribution across the island’s aseasonal ‘wet zone’ and its three principal hill ranges, suggestive of allopatric speciation playing a dominant role, especially between mountain masses. Among the species that are merged by the delimitation analyses, a pattern leading towards a model of parapatric speciation emerges–ongoing speciation in the presence of gene flow. This delimitation analysis reinforces the species hypotheses, paving the way to a reasonable understanding of Sri Lankan Pseudophilautus , enabling both deeper analyses and conservation efforts of this remarkable diversification. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DA869B6B-870A-4ED3-BF5D-5AA3F69DDD27 .
... The diversity and endemism among Sri Lankan herpetofauna is remarkable (Bossuyt et al., 2004(Bossuyt et al., , 2005. Extensive studies on taxonomy of Sri Lanka's herpeto-fauna has been conducted in the wet zone located in the southwestern of the island (average annual rainfall >2000 mm) Wickramasinghe et al., 2013;. In addition, many herpetofaunal inventories have been compiled for the wet zone of Sri Lanka (Wijesinghe and Dayawansa, 2002;Surasinghe and Wijesinghe, 2005; S. Kudavidanage et al., 2012). ...
Jaffna peninsula is quite an unexplored area of Sri Lanka's lowland dry zone. We constructed a species checklist for all herpetofauna of this area based on a short-term field survey, a comprehensive literature review, museum specimens, and observations made by field herpetologists. Based on 200 × 10 m belt transects, we surveyed herpetofauna both during day and night time, in 10 different types of habitats. The species checklist we compiled comprised 44 species of reptiles (including three nationally threatened, one globally threatened, and eight endemic species) and 15 species of amphibians (including one nationally threatened and three endemic species). Based on published literature, museum specimens, expert opinions, and current field survey, we documented 85 species of herpetofauna in this area. Of this entire list, we were unable to record the presence of 25 species through our field survey. Our field survey documented 18 species that were not previously reported from Jaffna Peninsula. Our study revealed that inland water bodies, cultivated lands, home gardens, and coastal beaches are of high importance for native herpetofauna of Jaffna peninsula. Many human disturbances, such as habitat alterations, vengeful killing, consumption overexploitation, and road mortality are the key threats encountered by herpetofauna in Jaffna. Our intention of this study is to compile baseline information on diversity of amphibians and reptiles to support more detailed studies in future and assist conservation and management decisions within the region. We believe that our study will provide a basic foundation for conservation planning and future research.
... Since 2012, 13 new species of amphibians have been added to the species list by Wickramasinghe et al. (2013), Biju et al. (2014), Meegaskumbura et al. (2015), Wickramasinghe et al. (2015), Wijayathilaka et al. (2016), Jayawardena et al. (2017), Garg et al. (2018), and Senevirathne et al. (2018). All of these are endemic to Sri Lanka. ...
Sri Lanka’s location, historic and geologic isolation from the continental landmass, topography and climate act to shape its biogeography and biodiversity, including conferring a remarkably high level of endemism, given its close proximity to the mainland.
The island hosts several ‘point endemic1 species and even monotypic endemic genera. However this irreplaceable biodiversity is now under severe threat because of extensive anthropogenic landuse changes that began over two centuries ago, under colonial rule, and continues to this present date. Due to high levels of endemism, extensive loss
and degradation of natural ecosystem, Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots.
... Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 Wickramasinghe et al., Pseudophilautus hoffmanni Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 Wickramasinghe et al., Pseudophilautus tanu Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 Wickramasingheet al., 2013 ----Pseudophilautus zorro ----Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 ----Raorchestes anili ----Seshadri et al., Raorchestes chlorosoma ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes chotta Seshadri et al., et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes glandulosus Boulenger, 1882 Seshadri et al., 2012 Laurent, 1943 Raorchestes graminirupes ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes griet ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes luteolus ----Kuramoto & Joshy, 2003 ----Raorchestes marki ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes munnarensis ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes nerostagona ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes ponmudi ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes sushili ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes tinniens ----Boulenger, 1882;Rao, 1937;Seshadri et al., ...
Most anurans possess a tympanic middle ear (TME) that transmits sound waves to the inner ear; however, numerous species lack some or all TME components. To understand the evolution of these structures, we undertook a comprehensive assessment of their occurrence across anurans and performed ancestral character state reconstructions. Our analysis indicates that the TME was completely lost at least 38 independent times in Anura. The inferred evolutionary history of the TME is exceptionally complex in true toads (Bufonidae), where it was lost in the most recent common ancestor, preceding a radiation of >150 earless species. Following that initial loss, independent regains of some or all TME structures were inferred within two minor clades and in a radiation of >400 species. The reappearance of the TME in the latter clade was followed by at least 10 losses of the entire TME. The many losses and gains of the TME in anurans is unparalleled among tetrapods. Our results show that anurans, and especially bufonid toads, are an excellent model to study the behavioural correlates of earlessness, extratympanic sound pathways, and the genetic and developmental mechanisms that underlie the morphogenesis of TME structures.
... Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 Wickramasinghe et al., Pseudophilautus hoffmanni Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 Wickramasinghe et al., Pseudophilautus tanu Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 Wickramasingheet al., 2013 ----Pseudophilautus zorro ----Wickramasinghe et al., 2013 ----Raorchestes anili ----Seshadri et al., Raorchestes chlorosoma ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes chotta Seshadri et al., et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes glandulosus Boulenger, 1882 Seshadri et al., 2012 Laurent, 1943 Raorchestes graminirupes ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes griet ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes luteolus ----Kuramoto & Joshy, 2003 ----Raorchestes marki ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes munnarensis ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes nerostagona ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes ponmudi ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes sushili ----Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes tinniens ----Boulenger, 1882; Rao, 1937; Seshadri et al., 2012 ----Raorchestes tuberohumerus ----Kuramoto & Joshy, 2003 ----Rhacophorus annamensis ----Stuart et al., 2006 ----Rhacophorus angulirostris Inger & Stuebing, 1997 Inger & Stuebing, 1997 ----Racophorus calcaneus ----Stuart et al., 2006 ----Rhacophorus chenfui ...
... Even though the taxonomy and phylogeny of amphibians (Manamendra-Arachchi & Meegaskumbura, 2012;Wickramasinghe et al., 2013) are well studied in Sri Lanka, relatively little attention has been paid to ecological and behavioral characterization. Other than for vocalization (Samarasinghe, 2011) and some information on breeding (Bahir et al., 2005;Karunarathna & Amarasinghe, 2007, 2010, literature on the biology and ecology of P. popularis is not available. ...
This study reports activity budget and perch characteristics of the Sri Lankan endemic shrub frog Pseudophilautus popularis in a wetland-home garden setting in an urban area. Thirty-two frogs were studied from 18:30–06:00h and 45% of the time they were found to be stationary without any activity. The highest percentage of time was utilised for calling and courtship (52%). This study reveals that the frogs occupy different heights during their nightly activity period, starting from the ground level and gradually moving up among the vegetation. They were reported to reach the maximum heights around 23:00h, remaining there for nearly two hours and then retreating downwards towards the dawn. The results emphasize the importance of maintaining diversity of vegetation especially in terms of stratification in ensuring habitat quality to conserve this species. Introduction Even though the taxonomy and phylogeny of amphibians (Manamendra-Arachchi & Meegaskumbura, 2012; Wickramasinghe et al., 2013) are well studied in Sri Lanka, relatively little attention has been paid to ecological and behavioral characterization. Other than for vocalization (Samarasinghe, 2011) and some information on breeding (Bahir et al., 2005; Karunarathna & Amarasinghe, 2007, 2010), literature on the biology and ecology of P. popularis is not available. The Common shrub-frog Pseudophilautus popularis (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda, 2005) was described in 2005 and information on taxonomic features and distribution has been published. In the context of global amphibian decline and increasingly evident threats to amphibian fauna (Stuart et al., 2004), it is of vital importance to report how frogs interact with each other and with the environment in which they live (Zug et al., 2001). Furthermore, understanding behavior and habitat
... Even though the taxonomy and phylogeny of amphibians (Manamendra-Arachchi & Meegaskumbura, 2012;Wickramasinghe et al., 2013) are well studied in Sri Lanka, relatively little attention has been paid to ecological and behavioral characterization. Other than for vocalization (Samarasinghe, 2011) and some information on breeding (Bahir et al., 2005;Karunarathna & Amarasinghe, 2007, 2010, literature on the biology and ecology of P. popularis is not available. ...
This study reports activity budget and perch characteristics of the Sri Lankan endemic shrub frog Pseudophilautus popularis in a wetland-home garden setting in an urban area. Thirty-two frogs were studied from 18:30–06:00h and 45% of the time they were found to be stationary without any activity. The highest percentage of time was utilised for calling and courtship (52%). This study reveals that the frogs occupy different heights during their nightly activity period, starting from the ground level and gradually moving up among the vegetation. They were reported to reach the maximum heights around 23:00h, remaining there for nearly two hours and then retreating downwards towards the dawn. The results emphasize the importance of maintaining diversity of vegetation especially in terms of stratification in ensuring habitat quality to conserve this species.
... Even though the taxonomy and phylogeny of amphibians (Manamendra-Arachchi & Meegaskumbura, 2012;Wickramasinghe et al., 2013) are well studied in Sri Lanka, relatively little attention has been paid to ecological and behavioral characterization. Other than for vocalization (Samarasinghe, 2011) and some information on breeding (Bahir et al., 2005;Karunarathna & Amarasinghe, 2007, 2010, literature on the biology and ecology of P. popularis is not available. ...
... Ungeachtet ihrer relativ geringen Größe ist sie die Heimat von 119 Amphibienarten, von denen nicht weniger als 103 hier endemisch sind (86,5% Endemismus) und sie somit zu einem anerkannten Hotspot für Amphibien machen. Während der letzten zwei Jahrzehnte hat sich die Anzahl der bekannten Amphibienarten stetig vergrößert (Meegaskumbura et al. 2002, Manamendra-Arachchi & Gabadage 1996, Meegaskumbura & Manamendra-Arachchi 2005, Meegaskumbura et al. 2011, Wickramasinghe et al. 2013b. Die 119 derzeit bekannten Taxa repräsentieren dabei zwei Ordnungen: Anura und Gymnophiona. ...
The southern and southeastern parts of Asia host high amphibian biodiversity and comprise four biodiversity hotspots. 285 amphibian species are endemic to South Asia, 342 are distributed in India and 119 in Sri Lanka. Here we document the distribution, threats, and conservation status of amphibians in the major countries of southern and southeastern Asia (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and China) and list smaller countries with species numbers. Conservation is an umbrella concept that is fundamental yet paradoxical. Training programmes, workshops for students, bio-banking, and the publication of field guides in local languages are urgently needed to conserve amphibian biodiversity in this part of the world.
... Ungeachtet ihrer relativ geringen Größe ist sie die Heimat von 119 Amphibienarten, von denen nicht weniger als 103 hier endemisch sind (86,5% Endemismus) und sie somit zu einem anerkannten Hotspot für Amphibien machen. Während der letzten zwei Jahrzehnte hat sich die Anzahl der bekannten Amphibienarten stetig vergrößert (Meegaskumbura et al. 2002, Manamendra-Arachchi & Gabadage 1996, Meegaskumbura & Manamendra-Arachchi 2005, Meegaskumbura et al. 2011, Wickramasinghe et al. 2013b. Die 119 derzeit bekannten Taxa repräsentieren dabei zwei Ordnungen: Anura und Gymnophiona. ...
Die südlichen und südöstlichen Bereiche Asiens beherbergen eine große Amphibienvielfalt und umfassen vier Hotspots der Biodiversität. 285 Amphibienarten sind dabei in Süd-Asien endemisch, 342 sind in Indien verbreitet und 119 in Sri Lanka. An dieser Stelle fassen wir die Verbreitung, Bedrohungsfaktoren und den Schutzstatus der Amphibien in den größten Ländern Süd- und Südost-Asiens (In- dien, Bangladesch, Sri Lanka, Pakistan und China) zusammen und berücksichtigen die kleineren Länder mit der Anzahl ihrer Arten. Naturschutz ist ein Schirmkonzept, welches ebenso fundamental wie paradox ist. Ausbildungsprogramme, Workshops für Lernwillige, Bio-banking und die Veröffentlichung von Feldführern in den vor Ort gesprochenen Sprachen werden dringend benötigt, um die Vielfalt an Amphibien in diesem Teil der Welt zu erhalten.
