Philautus chlorosomma Biju & Bossuyt 2009, SP. NOV.
Creators: name: Biju, S. D.
name: Bossuyt, Franky
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Rhacophoridae
Philautus
Philautus chlorosomma

description: PHILAUTUS CHLOROSOMMA SP. NOV.  (FIGS 2, 21A–D, 22, 23A; TABLE 2)  
 Type material: Holotype, BNHS 4425, an adult male, SVL 27.5 mm, collected by SDB on 14 July 1989 from Munnar, Idukki, Kerala, India; paratypes, BNHS 4426, an adult male collected along with the holotype.   
 Other material studied: SDB 1061B, an adult male, from Munnar (Table 2).   
 Diagnosis: Philautus chlorosomma sp. nov. can be distinguished from known congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) medium adult size (SVL 26.8 ± 0.8 mm, N = 3, male); (2) shank longer than thigh (ShL 14.2 ± 0.5 mm vs. TL 12.8 ± 0.7 mm, N = 3); (3) absence of supernumerary tubercle on hand and foot; (4) webbing rudimentary (Fig. 21D), reaching just above the thirds subarticular tubercle on either side of toe IV; (5) greyish green iris (Fig. 22); (6) groin light-grey to brown, vermiculated with black patches of variable size.   
 Because of the overall appearance, this species could be confused with P. graminirupes. Philautus chlorosomma sp. nov. differs from the latter by its oval snout (vs. pointed), snout equal to the horizontal diameter of eye, SL 4.4 ± 0.1 mm vs. EL 4.4 ± 0.2 mm, male, N = 3 (vs. snout shorter than horizontal diameter of eye, SL 3.1 ± 0.1 mm vs. EL 4.0 ± 0.2, male, N = 4), thighs light grey, vermiculated with black patches of variable size (vs. thighs chocolate brown, vermiculated with bluish green), absence of horny ridge between the eyes (vs. presence of horny ridge in between the eyes).   
 Description of the holotype (all measurements in mm): Medium-sized frog (SVL 27.5) with a rather slender body (Figs 21A, 22); head length (HL 10.6) shorter than width (HW 10.8; MN 9.3; MFE 7.3; MBE 3.3); outline of snout in dorsal view oval (Fig. 21A); snout length (SL 4.4) almost equal to horizontal diameter of eye (EL 4.6); canthus rostralis indistinct, loreal region acutely concave; distance between posterior margins of eyes (IBE 10.1) about twice the distance between anterior margins of eye (IFE 5.1); tympanum (TYD 1.6) distinct; supratympanic fold distinct, from back of eyes to shoulder (Fig. 21B); tongue without a lingual papilla.   
Forelimb (FLL 6.5) shorter than hand (HAL 8.1; TFL 5.6); all fingers with dermal fringe on both edges, webbing absent; subarticular tubercles rather distinct, rounded, single, III2 and IV2 weakly developed (Fig. 21C); prepollex rather indistinct, rounded; single palmar tubercle, rounded; supernumerary tubercles present on fingers II, III, and IV (Fig. 21C); nuptial pad absent.  
Hindlimbs moderately long, shank (ShL 14.6) longer than thigh (FL 13.6), longer than distance from base of internal metatarsal tubercle to tip of toe IV (FOL 11.6); webbing rudimentary, reaching just above the third subarticular tubercle on either side of toe IV (Fig. 21D); dermal fringe along toe V absent; subarticular tubercles rather prominent, rounded, simple, and all present, but IV3 and V2 weakly developed; supernumerary tubercles absent (Fig. 21D).  
Skin of snout, between eyes, and upper eyelids smooth, side of head shagreened, back and flanks smooth to shagreened, dorsal part of thighs, shanks, and tarsus smooth to shagreened; throat and chest slightly granular, belly and ventral side of thighs granular.  
 Colour of holotype: In life: dorsum light grey to brown with irregular spots, a pair of light black discontinuous parallel lines extending from behind the eye to the level of the groin (Fig. 22); groins and posterior surface of thighs light grey to brown, lateral side brown with light-grey spots (Fig. 22); loreal and tympanic regions dark brownish black; iris greyish green with brown discontinuous lines, encircled by a lightblue ring; limbs brownish grey dorsally; forelimbs and hindlimbs with light-brown cross bands; ventral side whitish, throat light grey with minute greyish spots; ventral surface of hands and feet fleshy white, with small grey spots.   
In preservation: dorsum grey, with a pair of lightgreyish black parallel lines extending from behind the eye to the groin; flank and groin light-greyish brown, vermiculated with blackish grey patches of variable size; limbs dorsally grey with faint cross bands; ventral side of feet and hands light grey with small black spots.  
 Variation: Measurements of three individuals are given in Table 2.   
 Etymology: The species name is derived from the Greek word chloros, meaning green and omma, meaning eye, referring to the greenish iris of this species.   
 Distribution and natural history: Philautus chlorosomma sp. nov. is known only from the type locality- Munnar (Fig. 23A, Table 1). The type series was collected from disturbed shola vegetation near tea and eucalyptus plantations. All individuals were collected after heavy rain, from about 1 m above the ground, from Lantana thickets or leaves of Eupatorium glandulosum.
description: Published as part of Biju, S. D. & Bossuyt, Franky, 2009, Systematics and phylogeny of Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of 12 new species, pp. 374-444 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (2) on pages 403-405, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5445358