Philautus wynaadensis Jerdon 1853
Creators: name: Biju, S. D.
name: Bossuyt, Franky
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Rhacophoridae
Philautus
Philautus wynaadensis

description: PHILAUTUS WYNAADENSIS JERDON, 1853   
(FIGS 2, 9, 59D, 64A–C, 65A, B; TABLE 2)  
 Type material: Neotype, MNHN 1999.5596, an adult male, SVL 28.3 mm, from ‘ Sultan’s Battery’ (i.e. Sulthanbathery), Wayanad, Kerala, India.   
 Other material studied: BNHS 4551 and BNHS 4552, two adult males, and BNHS 4556, an adult female, from Kalpetta; BNHS 4553 and BNHS 4554, two adult males, from Sulthanbathery; BNHS 4555, an adult male, from Mananthavady; BNHS 4550, an adult male, from Mettupalayam (Table 2).   
 Diagnosis: Philautus wynaadensis can be distinguished from known congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) medium adult size (SVL 25.7 ± 1.5 mm, N = 7, male; SVL 27.2 mm, N = 1, female); (2) body rather slender; (3) snout subelliptical in ventral view; (4) upper two-thirds of tympanum dark black; (5) dorsum with spinular projections.   
 Philautus wynaadensis can be confused with P. amboli sp. nov. and P. kani sp. nov. (see both those species for comparisons).   
 Description of the neotype: A detailed description of the neotype was published in Bossuyt & Dubois (2001).   
 Variation: Measurements of eight specimens including the neotype are given in Table 2. This species shows some colour variation, even within the same population, from uniform grey to brownish or reddish grey. BNHS 4556 (Fig. 64A): dorsum grey–brown, a dark-brown band from the half portion of upper eyelid to vent, snout grey–brown, upper two-thirds of tympanum dark black, upper half of iris light brownish, lower half dark brownish; lateral side light brownish, either side of snout including loreal and tympanic regions dark-brownish black, limbs light brown with dark cross bands; ventral side light creamy white with dark spots; BNHS 4554 (Fig. 64B): dorsum reddish brown with a faint ‘X’ marking, loreal and tympanic regions light grey, upper two-thirds of tympanum dark black, limbs light-reddish brown with faint cross bands; ventral side uniform white with faint minute spots; BNHS 4552 (Fig. 64C): uniform grey dorsum with faint cross bands on limbs.   
 Distribution: Philautus wynaadensis is widely distributed in the Western Ghats, especially north of the Palghat Gap, with its southern limit reaching up to Periyar (South of the Palghat Gap). This species was collected from nine localities: Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery, Kalpetta, Palakkad, Parambikulam- Puliyarapadam, and Mettupalayam (NPG); and Thrissur, Meladoor, and Periyar (SPG) (Fig. 58D, Table 1). It is one of the most common Philautus in the study region, and is dominant in wayside vegetation and urban areas.   
 Remarks: Philautus wynaadensis was discussed as I xalus leucorhinus Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856 (BMNH 72.4.17257a–d, four adult males from ‘N. Canara’; BMNH 74.4.29.587 adult male, BMNH 74.4.29.495 adult female from ‘Malabar’) by Boulenger (1882).
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 439-440, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5445358