Eight new species of Pseudophilautus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Sripada World Heritage Site (Peak Wilderness), a local amphibian hotspot in Sri Lanka

Wickramasinghe, L. J. Mendis; Vidanapathirana, Dulan Ranga; Rajeev, M. D. Gehan; Ariyarathne, S.C.; Chanaka, A.W. Amila; Priyantha, Lhwks; Bandara, Imesh Nuwan; Wickramasinghe, Nethu

doi:10.11609/jott.o3099.3789-920

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…bambaradeniyayi shows it to be distinguished from P . frankenbergi by a relatively smaller body size, a dorsally convex head, a laterally truncated snout, a rounded canthus rostralis, a convex interorbital space, and the absence of fringe on fingers [ 20 ]. We therefore consider P .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We included the 104 individualsof Pseudophilautus previously analysed by [ 14 – 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 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many of these were described relatively recently [ 14 – 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 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular species delimitation of shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus (Anura, Rhacophoridae)

et al. 2021

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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. fergusonianus; 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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular species delimitation of shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus (Anura, Rhacophoridae)

et al. 2021

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“…Terminology of external morphology abbreviated in the text and external measurements for the description section follows Wickramasinghe et al (2013a).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, all the 75 species are endemic to the island (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda 2005;Meegaskumbura & ManamendraArachchi 2005, 2011Meegaskumbura et al 2007Meegaskumbura et al , 2009; Wickramasinghe et al 2013a). Sri Lanka claims to have the highest number of extinct amphibians-19 species (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda 1998, 2005Manamendra-Arachchi & de Silva 2004;Pethiyagoda 2005;IUCN & MENR 2007;Meegaskumbura et al 2007;Stuart et al 2008;Manamendra-Arachchi & Meegaskumbura 2012) and interestingly all belonging to the genus Pseudophilautus (ManamendraArachchi & Pethiyagoda 2005;Meegaskumbura et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rediscovery of Pseudophilautus hypomelas (Günther, 1876) (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Peak Wilderness, Sri Lanka, a species thought to be extinct!

Wickramasinghe¹,

Vidanapathirana²,

Rajeev³

et al. 2013

J. Threat. Taxa

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Pseudophilautus hypomelas (Günther, 1876), was previously known from the type collection of 14 specimens deposited in the Natural History Museum, London. There has been no record of this species since the original description by Günther in 1876, and subsequently this species was considered extinct. In recent explorations however, the species has been rediscovered from the Peak Wilderness, Central Hills of Sri Lanka, with a rediscription of the species from fresh collections.

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Chytridiomycosis in Sri Lanka: Predicting the future of a global amphibian hotspot

de Mel,

Dayananda,

Wijayasekara

et al. 2023

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), constitutes a major threat to many amphibian species worldwide. Predicting the species and regions of highest geographical risk is critical for the early detection and mitigation of chytrid emergence.2. In this study, using a niche modelling approach, the most conducive habitat for Bd within Sri Lanka (a high-risk zone) was modelled. The distribution of 69 amphibian species was then modelled and their overlap with the high-risk zone (area Bd ) was calculated.3. Using area Bd and a biotic index (BI), created using ecological traits of each species, a risk index (RI) was calculated. Using this RI, a high-risk species index (HRSI) was developed to identify the species most at risk. 4. The results indicate that the high elevations of Sri Lanka (>600 m a.s.l.) are highly conducive for Bd. The HRSI includes 35 species, with Minervarya greenii being the species most at risk. All species in the HRSI are globally Critically Endangered (n = 14) or Endangered (n = 21).5. We propose active conservation measures such as the routine monitoring of HRSI species and other proactive measures to identify and prevent the spread of Bd.We believe our findings would promote the establishment of pre-emptive mitigation measures both within Sri Lanka and elsewhere, to counter the threat of chytridiomycosis and to conserve amphibian species.

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Eight new species of Pseudophilautus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Sripada World Heritage Site (Peak Wilderness), a local amphibian hotspot in Sri Lanka

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Molecular species delimitation of shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus (Anura, Rhacophoridae)

Molecular species delimitation of shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus (Anura, Rhacophoridae)

Rediscovery of Pseudophilautus hypomelas (Günther, 1876) (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Peak Wilderness, Sri Lanka, a species thought to be extinct!

Chytridiomycosis in Sri Lanka: Predicting the future of a global amphibian hotspot

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