I

Asiatic Herpetological Research

June 1995

Vol. 6, pp. 36-37

j'The Ceylonese Tree Frog Polypedates cruciger Blyth, a New Record forIndia
R. J. Ranjit Daniels

12and m. S. Ravichandran'M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, 3rd Cross Gtreet, Taramani Institutional Area, Madras, India

600113
Zoological Survey of India, 100 Santhome High Road, Madras, India 600028
Abstract. -The Ceylonese tree frog Polypedates cruciger was considered endemic to the island of Sri Lanka.

However, recent surveys in the Western Ghats, India has revealed that the species is widespread outside its
originally reported range. P. cruciger differs from both the Indian species P. maculatus and P. leucomystax inmorphology and ecology. P. cruciger is an addition to the amphibian fauna of India.

Key words: Amphibia, Anura, Polypedates cruciger, India, Western Ghats, distribution.

of Kanyakumari district (c. 8° 15' N; 77°25'E). Later in the year, two more specimensof the same species were observed in partsof Karnataka State around 14" N; 75° E.

The specimens have been deposited in theZSI (Madras) and BNHS (Bombay)
museums.

Discussion
Based on the extent of webbing between
and fingers, the specimens werethe toes

assigned to the genus Polypedates (Liem,1970; Daniel and Sekar, 1989). In India,
only two specimens of Polypedates have
These are P
been hitherto reported.
.

(Gravenhorst) and P.
maculatus (Gray) (Inger and Dutta, 1986).
The examples from the Western Ghats
differed from both leucomystax andmaculatus in the skin of the head adhering to
the nasal and frontoparietal bones, theleucomystax

tympanum being two-thirds the diameter ofthe orbit, the three-fourth webbing on toes

FIG. 1. Polypedates cruciger from the Westernand in the hour-glass shaped marking on thedorsum. These characters agree well with

Ghats of India.

Rhacophorus (-Polypedates) cruciger ofIntroduction
During a recent survey of amphibians in
the Western Ghats and southwestern India,

three specimens of tree frogs were obtainedin June

1990 from a private estate in the hills© 1995 by Asiatic Herpetological Research

Boulenger (1890) described from Sri Lanka.
Further, the hour-glass marking on thedorsal side commencing from the middle
level of eyes to mid-body terminating in theform of a trident is unmistakably similar tothat in Rhacophorus cruciger illustrated byKirtisinghe (1957).
characteristics,

Considering the above

we confirm the identity ofVol. 6, p. 37

Asiatic Herpetological Research

June 1995

Acknowledgments

our specimens as Polypedates crucigerfFig.
1).

The authors wish to thank the Director,
These specimens mark the first record ofthis species in India outside its range (SriLanka). The first three animals were locatedwithin a clove plantation at an elevation of
400 m above MSL. These hills receive anaverage annual rainfall of about 2000 mm.
Several males were observed calling on a

Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, Dr. K.
V. Lakshminarayana, Officer-in-charge,
Southern Regional Station, ZSI, Madras andthe Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore for thefacilities provided. Thanks are due to Dr.
R. S. Pillai, Scientist Emeritus (ZSI,rainy night in June, perched on low
branches (c. 1 m above ground). The calls
consisted of a harsh tre... chuck repeated byrival males followed by a series of chucks ofMadras), Mr. Romulus Whitaker, and Mr.
Harry Andrews of the Madras Crocodile

lowintensity.

In captivity, the males

continued to call during overcast and rainydays. They fed well on a variety of live
insects including grasshoppers andcockroaches.

TheBank for critically reviewing the manuscript.

specimens

observedinsouthwestern Karnataka were in evergreen
forests in regions of 3000-6000 mm rainfall.
One individual was observed on October
1990 crossing a forest road and moving
towards a stream at midday. A second
individual was observed on November 1990
in a patch of dense forest, resting on a tree
trunk at c. 2 m above ground in thecompany of a few smaller Philautus spp.

Specimens of Polypedates cruciger observedin Karnataka were found at lower elevations
between 50 and 250 m above MSL.

The habitat preference, altitudinal andgeographical range, of this species insouthwest India suggest that this species
may be widespread in the Western Ghats
and has been overlooked by surveys until
recently. This species seems to be mostactive during the rains and much of theWestern Ghats are inaccessible at this time.
This partly explains why the species has notbeen reported from nearly 500 km ofintervening hills in its known range in India.

Literature Cited

BOULENGER, G. A.

1890.

Fauna of British India:

RepUlia and Batrachia, Taylor and Francis. London,
541 pp.

DANIEL, J. C. AND A G. SEKAR.

1989.

Field

Guide to the Amphibians of Western India:

Part

Journal of theSociety 86:194-202.

Four.

BombayNatural History

INGER, R. F. AND S. K. DUTTA.

1986.

An

overview of the amphibian fauna of India. Journalof the Bombay Natural History Society 83(supplement): 135- 146.

KIRTISINGHE, P. 1957. The Amphibia of Ceylon.
Colombo. 112 pp.
1970. The morphology, systematics
and evolution of the old world tree frogs
Fieldiana(Rhacophoridae and Hyperoliidae).

LIEM, S. S.

Zoology 57:1-145.