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

description: PHILAUTUS TRAVANCORICUS (BOULENGER, 1891)   
(FIGS 2, 59B, 60A, 61, 62; TABLE 2)  
 Holotype: BMNH 1947.2.6.20 (ex BMNH 1891.7.2.15), an adult female, SVL 29.8 mm, from ‘ Bodanaikanur’ (i.e. Bodinayakkanur), Tamil Nadu, India.   
 Other material studied: BNHS 4546, an adult male, from Vandiperiyar; BNHS 4547 and SDB 4592, two adult males, from Vagaman (Table 2).   
 Identity: Philautus travancoricus was described as I xalus travancoricus Boulenger, 1891 based on a single female specimen (Fig. 60A) collected by H.S. Ferguson from Bodinayakkanur, Tamil Nadu, close to the Kerala border. We rediscovered one male frog Variation: Measurements of six specimens including the neotype are given in Table 2. This species has a relatively constant dorsal coloration, with only a slight degree of variation. BNHS 4495 (typical coloration), dorsum grey–brown; iris dark-blackish brown, without markings; lateral side grey with irregular brownish black patches, either side of snout including loreal and tympanic regions light grey with darkbrownish black markings, limbs light brownish with light cross bands, flanks and groins dark brownish black, anterior and posterior side of thighs, posterior surface of shanks dark brownish black in life, turns to black in preservation, first two fingers distinctively yellow (Fig. 58); ventral side light-whitish yellow with dark spots.   
 Distribution and natural history: Nilgiri Hills and surroundings: Avalanche, Coonoor, Kothagiri, Naduvattam, Parsons Valley, and Udhagamandalam (Fig. 59A, Table 1). All individuals were observed and collected either from the ground or from a maximum height of 0.6 m in shrubs (Avalanche). This frog even calls during the daytime, mainly from earthen bank or grasslands. Breeding was observed at Avalanche. Amplexus was axillary and 41 eggs were laid in a hole in an earthen cutting. The eggs were non-pigmented white and were protected by a dense jelly layer. Eggs were large and measured 4.3 ± 0.6 mm (N = 41) in diameter. The eggs underwent after a gap of more than a century from Vandiperiyar, about 70 km north-west of the type locality in 2004, and later in 2006 located two males from Vagaman, about 20 km north of Vandiperiyar. Morphologically, our collection matches well with the holotype of P. travancoricus by having an oval snout, distinct lines on the dorsum, and a dark-brown streak on each side of the snout (Fig. 61). The type locality is also close to the present collection area. However, many of the characters cannot be obtained from the type because of its extremely dehydrated condition, although the colour pattern is clearly visible, especially the dark streak on each side of the snout running up to the level of the tympanum (Figs 60A, 61).   
 Diagnosis: Philautus travancoricus can be distinguished from known congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) small adult size, male SVL 23.5 ± 1.7 mm, N = 3; female SVL 29.8 mm, N = 1); (2) snout oval in dorsal view; (3) loreal and tympanic regions light brown with a prominent streak on each side of the snout, from the extreme tip of the snout to the lower level of the supratympanic fold (Figs 59B, 60A, 61, 62); (4) nuptial pad absent.   
 Philautus travancoricus is closely allied to P. luteolus (see P. luteolus for the ‘comparison’).   
 Description of the holotype (all measurements in mm): Medium frog (SVL 29.8) with slender body (Fig. 61); head longer (HL 12.3) than wide (HW 10.3; MN 9.9; MFE 7.5; MBE 4.4); outline of snout in dorsal view oval, slightly protruding, snout length (SL 4.1) longer than horizontal diameter of eye (EL 3.3) (Fig. 60A); canthus rostralis indistinct, loreal region acutely concave; distance between anterior margins of eyes (IFE 5.1) 1.5 times the distance between posterior margins of eyes (IBE 7.9); tympanum indistinct; tongue without lingual papilla; supratympanic fold indistinct.   
Forelimb (FLL 6.8) shorter than hand (HAL 7.3; TFL 4.0); fingers without lateral dermal fringe; subarticular tubercles prominent, rounded, single, IV2 weakly developed; supernumerary tubercles weakly developed.  
Hindlimbs moderately long, shank (ShL 13.7) almost equal to thigh (TL 13.6), longer than distance from base of inner metatarsal tubercle to tip of toe IV (FOL 11.0); distance from heel to tip of toe IV (TFOL 18.1); webbing reduced; subarticular tubercles rather prominent, rounded, simple.  
Skin of snout, between eyes, upper eyelids, side of head, and anterior and posterior parts of back shagreened, upper and lower parts of flank shagreened to sparsely granular, dorsal part of forelimb and hindlimb shagreened; throat shagreened, chest, belly and posterior surface of thighs granular.  
 Colour of holotype: In preservation: dorsum uniform greyish brown with three brownish longitudinal lines, one from snout to near the vent, and the other two on either side from just behind the eye to near the vent (Fig. 61), numerous dark-brown spots throughout the dorsum and both limbs; loreal and tympanic regions slightly darker than dorsal colour, a dark prominent streak on each side of snout from the tip of the snout up to the lower level of the tympanum (Figs 60A, 61); ventral side greyish white.   
 Variation: BNHS 4546, light-greyish red with prominent brown broad lines alternating with thin faint lines on dorsum (Fig. 62), lateral side light-reddish brown, upper eyelids slightly lighter than the dorsal colour, iris yellowish brown, loreal and tympanic regions light brown with a prominent streak on either side of the snout, from the extreme tip of the snout to the lower level of the supratympanic fold, limbs with dark-brown cross markings; ventral side light-reddish white, without markings. BNHS 4547, dorsum light brown to dark brown in life (Fig. 59B), turns lightbrownish grey in preservation.   
 Distribution and natural history: Bodinayakkanur, Vandiperiyar, and Vagaman (Fig. 59B, Table 1). In Vandiperiyar, about 70 km north-west from the type locality, a specimen (BNHS 4546) was found under leaf litter during the daytime in secondary vegetation outside of the breeding season (October). In Vagaman, about 20 km from Vandiperiyar, specimens BNHS 4547 and SDB 4592 were located during the breeding season (July) from heights of about 1 m in an isolated shrub surrounded by a tea plantation. This species is extremely rare in these two localities (we located only eleven individuals in two successive nights after a continuous search in the night for around 10 h), compared with the other Philautus species from the Western Ghats, and its distribution range is also restricted to those two regions. A more extensive field survey is essential to ascertain its range of distribution. The current distribution is restricted to the most disturbed habitat (tea plantation) outside protected areas.   
 PHILAUTUS TUBEROHUMERUS KURAMOTO & JOSHY, 2003   
(FIGS 2, 59C, 63A, B; TABLE 2)  
 Type material: Holotype, BNHS 4193, an adult male, SVL 18.2 mm, from Kudremukh, Chikamagalur, Karnataka; paratypes, SDB 4512 and OMNH Am 11413, two adult males.   
 Other material studied: BNHS 4498 and BNHS 4499, two adult males, from Kudremukh; BNHS 4590, an adult male, from Mercara; VUB 002, an adult male, from Sakleshpur; SDB 4512, an adult male, from Muthanga (Table 2).   
 Diagnosis: Philautus tuberohumerus can be distinguished from known congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) small adult size; (2) snout subelliptical in dorsal view; (3) head as wide as long; (4) shank shorter than thigh; (5) absence of papilla on the tongue; (6) groin and anterior surfaces of thighs dark brown with yellow blotches; (7) presence of slightly spinular nuptial pad.   
 This species is unique with the combination of short adult snout–vent length and being yellow with brown spots on groin and thigh, but could be comparable with P. bombayensis (see ‘comparison’ of the latter).   
 Description of the holotype: A detailed description and illustrations were published in Kuramoto & Joshy (2003).   
 Variation: Measurements of six specimens including the holotype are given in Table 2. The skin texture is slightly variable from typically shagreened to sparsely granular. SDB 4512, uniformly shagreened dorsum with prominent spinular projections (Fig. 63B). The typical colour form is light brown with a faint grey stripe in between the eyes, faint grey ‘X’ behind the eye to vent, loreal and tympanic regions light-brownish grey, iris light-golden brown, encircled by a bluish outer ring, lateral side light-greyish white, flank and groin with yellow patches in a brown background, limbs with cross bands; ventral side greyish white, minute black spots on the throat, thigh light bluish with light-grey spots (BNHS 4499, Fig. 63A); SDB 4512, dark-bluish black dorsum with light-bluish spots on lateral side; ventral side darkbluish black with light-blue spots (Fig. 63B); SDB 4599, dark-grey dorsum with blackish irregular patches, slightly broader greyish brown stripe between the eyes, a greyish brown line from snout to vent, dorsally at the point of vent, two lines extending from femur to tibia and finally ending on the tarsus (Fig. 59C).   
 Distribution and natural history: Chikmagalur, Kudremukh-Malleshwaram, Sakleshpur, Kempholay, Mercara, Someshwar-Agumbae in Karnataka, and Muthanga in Kerala (Fig. 59C, Table 1). Kudremukh populations were found in moist forest patches, but in Sakleshpur and Mercara, this species was found in the wayside vegetation near disturbed secondary forest. The calling height preference in all of the populations was a maximum of about 2 m above the ground, usually on leaves. The reproductive mode of this species was discussed (as P. bombayensis) by Bossuyt et al. (2001).
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 436-438, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5445358