The voluminous and exhaustive paper of Frost et al (2006) entitled The Amphibian Tree of Life has certainly changed or at least has opened up a healthy debate in the amphibian phylogeny. The species names and list that exclusively deals with current scenario in the Western Ghats are given below based on Frost et al., (2006). According to this revised list, there are 133 species of amphibians, belonging 27 genera, 11 families, and two orders. |
| Amphibia Gray, 1825 | |||||
| Gymnophiona Müller, 1832 | |||||
| Ichthyophiidae Taylor, 1968 | |||||
| “ Ichthyophis ” Fitzinger, 1826 | |||||
| Uraeotyphlus Peters, 1880 “1879” | |||||
| Caeciliidae Rafinesque, 1814 | |||||
| Gegeneophis Peters, 1880 | |||||
| Indotyphlus Taylor, 1960 | |||||
| Anura Fischer von Waldheim, 1831 | |||||
| Sooglossidae Noble, 1931 | |||||
| Nasikabatrachus Biju and Bossuyt, 2003 | |||||
| Bufonidae Gray 1825 | |||||
| Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 | |||||
| Bufo Laurenti, 1768 | |||||
| Pedostibes Günther, 1876 “1875” | |||||
| Microhylidae Günther, 1858 (1843) | |||||
| Ramanella Rao and Ramanna, 1925 | |||||
| Uperodon Duméril and Bibron, 1841 | |||||
|
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| Melanobatrachus Beddome, 1878 | |||||
|
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| Kaloula Gray, 1831 | |||||
| Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 | |||||
| Micrixalidae Dubois, Ohler and Biju, 2001 | |||||
| Micrixalus Boulenger, 1888 | |||||
| Petropedetidae Noble, 1931 | |||||
| Indirana Laurent, 1986 | |||||
| Dicroglossidae Anderson, 1871 | |||||
|
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| Euphlyctis Fitzinger, 1843 | |||||
| “Fejervarya ” Bolkay, 1915 | |||||
| Hoplobatrachus Peters, 1863 | |||||
| Minervarya Dubois, Ohler and Biju, 2001 | |||||
| Sphaerotheca Günther, 1859 “1858” | |||||
| Rhacophoridae Hoffman, 1932 (1858) | |||||
|
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| Philautus Gistel, 1848 | |||||
| Polypedates Tschudi, 1838 | |||||
| Rhacophorus Kuhl and Hasselt , 1822 | |||||
| Nyctibatrachidae Blommers-Schlösser, 1993 | |||||
| Nyctibatrachus Boulenger, 1882 | |||||
| Ranidae Rafinesque, 1814 | |||||
| Clinotarsus Mivart, 1869 | |||||
| Hydrophylax Fitzinger, 1843 | |||||
| Sylvirana Dubois, 1992 | |||||
Table 1. Amphibians of the Western Ghats
Order |
Family |
Subfamily |
Genera |
Species |
Endemic to WG |
| Gymnophiona | Caeciliidae | Gegeneophis | 8 |
8 |
|
| Indotyphlus | 2 |
2 |
|||
| Ichthyophiidae | Ichthyophis | 7 |
7 |
||
| Uraeotyphlus | 5 |
5 |
|||
| Anura | Sooglossidae | Nasikabatrachus | 1 |
1 |
|
| Bufonidae | Ansonia | 2 |
2 |
||
| Bufo | 10 |
7 |
|||
| Pedostibes | 1 |
1 |
|||
| Microhylidae | Ramanella | 6 |
5 |
||
| Uperodon | 2 |
0 |
|||
| Melanobatrachinae | Melanobatrachus | 1 |
1 |
||
| Microhylinae | Kaloula | 1 |
0 |
||
| Microhyla | 3 |
1 |
|||
| Micrixalidae | Micrixalus | 11 |
11 |
||
| Petrapedatidae | Indirana | 10 |
10 |
||
| Dicroglossidae | Dicroglossinae | Euphlyctis | 2 |
0 |
|
| Fejervarya | 10 |
8 |
|||
| Hoplobatrachus | 2 |
0 |
|||
| Minervarya | 1 |
1 |
|||
| Sphaerotheca | 4 |
1 |
|||
| Rhacophoridae | Rhacophorinae | Philautus | 19 |
19 |
|
| Polypedates | 4 |
2 |
|||
| Rhacophorus | 5 |
5 |
|||
| Nycitbatrachidae | Nyctibatrachus | 12 |
12 |
||
| Ranidae | Clinotarsus | 1 |
1 |
||
| Sylvirana | 2 |
2 |
|||
| Hydrophylax | 1 |
0 |
|||
2 |
11 |
4 |
27 |
133 |
112 |
Table 2. Checklist of endemic amphibians of Western Ghats with IUCN criteria
| Sl. No. | Name | Authority, Year | IUCN criteria1 |
Order: Gymnophiona
Family: Icthyophiidae
| 1 | Ichthyophis beddomei | Peters, 1879 | Least concerned |
| 2 | Ichthyophis bombayensis | Taylor , 1960 | Data deficient |
| 3 | Ichthyophis longicephalus | Pillai, 1986 | Data deficient |
| 4 | Ichthyophis malabarensis | Taylor , 1960 | Data deficient |
| 5 | Ichthyophis peninsularis | Taylor , 1960 | Data deficient |
| 6 | Ichthyophis subterrestris | Taylor , 1960 | Data deficient |
| 7 | Ichthyophis tricolor | Annandale , 1909 | Least concerned |
| 8 | Uraeotyphlus interruptus | Pillai & Ravichandran, 1999 | Data deficient |
| 9 | Uraeotyphlus malabaricus | (Beddome, 1870) | Data deficient |
| 10 | Uraeotyphlus menoni | Annandale , 1913 | Data deficient |
| 11 | Uraeotyphlus narayani | Seshachar, 1939 | Data deficient |
| 12 | Uraeotyphlus oxyurus | (Dumeril & Bibron, 1841) | Data deficient |
Family: Caeciliidae
13 |
Gegeneophis carnosus | (Beddome, 1870) | Data deficient |
14 |
Gegeneophis danieli | Giri, Wilkinson & Gower, 2003 | Data deficient |
15 |
Gegeneophis fulleri | (Alcock, 1904) | Data deficient |
16 |
Gegeneophis krishnii | Pillai & Ravichandran, 1999 | Data deficient |
17 |
Gegeneophis madhavorum | Bhatta & Srinivasa, 2004 | Data deficient |
18 |
Gegeneophis nadakarnii | Bhatta & Prashanth, 2004 | Data deficient |
19 |
Gegeneophis ramaswamii | Taylor , 1964 | Least concerned |
20 |
Gegeneophis seshachari | Ravichandran, Gower and Wilkinson, 2003 | Data deficient |
21 |
Indotyphlus battersbyi | Taylor , 1960 | Data deficient |
22 |
Indotyphlus maharashtraensis | Giri, Gower & Wilkinson, 2004 | Data deficient |
Order: Anura
Family: Sooglossidae
| 23 | Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis | Biju & Bossuyt, 2003 | Endangered |
Family: Bufonidae
| 24 | Ansonia ornata | Günther, 1876 | Endangered |
| 25 | Ansonia rubigina | Pillai & Pattabiraman, 1981 | Vulnerable |
| 26 | Bufo beddomii | Günther, 1875 | Endangered |
| 27 | Bufo brevirostris | Rao, 1937 | Data deficient |
| 28 | Bufo hololius | Günther, 1876 | Data deficient |
| 29 | Bufo koynayensis | Soman, 1963 | Endangered |
| 30 | Bufo microtympanum | Boulenger, 1882 | Vulnerable |
| 31 | Bufo parietalis | Boulenger, 1882 | Near threatened |
| 32 | Bufo silentvalleyensis | Pillai, 1981 | Data deficient |
| 33 | Pedostibes tuberculosus | Günther, 1875 | Endangered |
Family: Microhylidae
| 34 | Ramanella anamalaiensis | Rao, 1937 | Data deficient |
| 35 | Ramanella minor | Rao, 1937 | Data deficient |
| 36 | Ramanella montana | (Jerdon, 1854) | Near threatened |
| 37 | Ramanella mormorata | Rao, 1937 | Endangered |
| 38 | Ramanella triangularis | (Günther, 1876) | Vulnerable |
Subfamily: Melanobatrachinae
| 39 | Melanobatrachus indicus | Beddome, 1878 | Endangered |
Subfamily: Microhylinae
| 40 | Microhyla sholigari | Dutta & Ray, 2000 | Endangered |
Family: Micrixalidae
| 41 | Micrixalus elegans | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 42 | Micrixalus fuscus | (Boulenger, 1882) | Near threatened |
| 43 | Micrixalus gadgili | Pillai & Pattabiraman, 1990 | Endangered |
| 44 | Micrixalus kottigeharensis | (Rao, 1937) | Cr. Endangered |
| 45 | Micrixalus narainensis | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 46 | Micrixalus nudis | Pillai, 1978 | Vulnerable |
| 47 | Micrixalus phyllophilus | (Jerdon, 1853) | Vulnerable |
| 48 | Micrixalus saxicola | (Jerdon, 1853) | Vulnerable |
| 49 | Micrixalus silvaticus | (Boulenger, 1882) | Data deficient |
| 50 | Micrixalus swamianus | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 51 | Micrixalus thampii | Pillai, 1981 | Data deficient |
Family: Petropedetidae
| 52 | Indirana beddomii | (Günther, 1876) | Least concern |
| 53 | Indirana brachytarsus | (Günther, 1876) | Endangered |
| 54 | Indirana diplostica | (Günther, 1875) | Endangered |
| 55 | Indirana gundia | (Dubois, 1986) | Cr. Endangered |
| 56 | Indirana leithii | (Boulenger, 1888) | Vulnerable |
| 57 | Indirana leptodactyla | (Boulenger, 1882) | Endangered |
| 58 | Indirana longicrus | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 59 | Indirana phrynoderma | (Boulenger, 1882) | Cr. Endangered |
| 60 | Indirana semipalmata | (Boulenger, 1882) | Least concern |
| 61 | Indirana tenuilingua | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
Family: Dicroglossidae
Sub-family: Dicroglossinae
| 62 | Fejervarya brevipalmata | (Peters, 1871) | Data deficient |
| 63 | Fejervarya keralensis | (Dubois, 1980) | Least concern |
| 64 | Fejervarya murthii | (Pillai, 1979) | Cr. Endangered |
| 65 | Fejervarya mysorensis | (Rao, 1922) | Data deficient |
| 66 | Fejervarya nilagirica | (Jerdon, 1853) | Endangered |
| 67 | Fejervarya parambikulamana | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 68 | Fejervarya rufescens | (Jerdon, 1853) | Least concern |
| 69 | Fejervarya sauriceps | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 70 | Minervarya sahyadris | Dubois, Ohler & Biju, 2001 | Endangered |
| 71 | Sphaerotheca leucorhyncus | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
Family: Rhacophoridae
Sub-family: Rhacophorinae
| 72 | Philautus anili | Biju & Bossuyt, 2006 | |
| 73 | Philautus beddomii | (Günther, 1876) | Near threatened |
| 74 | Philautus bobingeri | Biju & Bossuyt, 2005 | Data deficient |
| 75 | Philautus bombayensis | (Annandale, 1919) | Vulnerable |
| 76 | Philautus chalazodes | (Gunther, 1876) | Cr. endangered |
| 77 | Philautus charius | Rao, 1937 | Endangered |
| 78 | Philautus dubois | Biju & Bossuyt, 2006 | |
| 79 | Philautus flaviventris | (Boulenger, 1882) | Data deficient |
| 80 | Philautus glandulosus | (Jerdon, 1853) | Vulnerable |
| 81 | Philautus graminirupes | Biju & Bossuyt, 2005 | Data deficient |
| 82 | Philautus griet | Bossuyt, 2003 | Cr. endangered |
| 83 | Philautus luteolus | Kuramoto & Joshy, 2003 | Data deficient |
| 84 | Philautus nerostagona | Biju & Bossuyt, 2005 | Data deficient |
| 85 | Philautus ponmudi | Biju & Bossuyt, 2005 | Data deficient |
| 86 | Philautus signatus | (Boulenger, 1882) | Endangered |
| 87 | Philautus tinniens | (Jerdon, 1853) | Endangered |
| 88 | Philautus travancoricus | (Boulenger, 1891) | Extinct |
| 89 | Philautus tuberohumerus | Kuramoto & Joshy, 2003 | Data deficient |
| 90 | Philautus wynaadensis | (Jerdon, 1853) | Endangered |
| 91 | Polypedates pseudocruciger | Das & Ravichandran, 1998 | Least concerned |
| 92 | Polypedates occidentalis | Das & Dutta, 2006 | Data deficient |
| 93 | Rhacophorus calcadensis | Ahl, 1927 | Endangered |
| 94 | Rhacophorus lateralis | Boulenger, 1883 | Endangered |
| 95 | Rhacophorus malabaricus | Jerdon, 1870 | Least concerned |
| 96 | Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus | Vasudevan & Dutta, 2000 | Cr. endangered |
| 97 | Rhacophorus variabilis | (Jerdon, 1854) | Data deficient |
Family: Nyctibatrachidae
| 98 | Nyctibatrachus aliciae | Inger, Shaffer, Koshy & Bakde, 1984 | Endangered |
| 99 | Nyctibatrachus beddomii | (Boulenger, 1882) | Endangered |
| 100 | Nyctibatrachus deccanensis | Dubois, 1984 | Vulnerable |
| 101 | Nyctibatrachus humayuni | Bhaduri & Kripalani, 1955 | Vulnerable |
| 102 | Nyctibatrachus hussaini | Krishnamurthy, Reddy & Gururaja, 2001 | Endangered |
| 103 | Nyctibatrachus kempholeyensis | (Rao, 1937) | Data deficient |
| 104 | Nyctibatrachus major | Boulenger, 1882 | Vulnerable |
| 105 | Nyctibatrachus minor | Inger, Shaffer, Koshy & Bakde, 1984 | Endangered |
| 106 | Nyctibatrachus petraeus | Kunte & Das, 2005 | Data deficient |
| 107 | Nyctibatrachus sanctipalustris | Rao, 1920 | Endangered |
| 108 | Nyctibatrachus sylvaticus | Rao, 1937 | Data deficient |
| 109 | Nyctibatrachus vasanthi | Ravichandran, 1997 | Endangered |
Family: Ranidae
| 110 | Clinotarsus curtipes | (Jerdon, 1854, “1853”) | Near threatened |
| 111 | Sylvirana aurantiaca | (Boulenger, 1904) | Vulnerable |
| 112 | Sylvirana temporalis | (Günther, 1864) | Near threatened |
Note: 1. IUCN criteria http://www.redlist.org/info/categories_criteria2001.html
Table 3. Checklist of non-endemic amphibians to Western Ghats
| Sl. No. | Name | Authority, Year | IUCN criteria |
Family: Bufonidae
| 113 | Bufo melanostictus | Schneider, 1799 | Least concerned |
| 114 | Bufo scaber | Schneider, 1799 | Least concerned |
| 115 | Bufo stomaticus | Lutken, 1862 | Least concerned |
Family: Microhylidae
| 116 | Ramanella variegata | (Stoliczka, 1872) | Least concerned |
| 117 | Uperdon globulosus | (Günther, 1864) | Least concerned |
| 118 | Uperdon systoma | (Schneider, 1799) | Least concerned |
Sub-family: Microhylinae
| 119 | Kaloula taprobanica | (Parker, 1934) | Least concerned |
| 120 | Microhyla ornata | (Dumeril & Bibron, 1841) | Least concerned |
| 121 | Microhyla rubra | Jerdon, 1854 | Least concerned |
Family: Dicroglossidae
Sub-family: Dicroglossinae
| 122 | Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis | (Schneider, 1799) | Least concerned |
| 123 | Euphlyctis hexadactylus | (Lesson, 1834) | Least concerned |
| 124 | Fejervarya limnocharis | (Gravenhorst, 1829) | Least concerned |
| 125 | Fejervarya syhadrensis | (Annandale, 1919) | Least concerned |
| 126 | Hoplobatrachus crassus | (Jerdon, 1853) | Least concerned |
| 127 | Hoplobatrachus tigerinus | Daudin, 1803 | Least concerned |
| 128 | Sphaerotheca breviceps | (Schneider, 1799) | Least concerned |
| 129 | Sphaerotheca dobsonii | (Boulenger, 1882) | Least concerned |
| 130 | Sphaerotheca rolandae | (Dubois, 1983) | Least concerned |
Family: Rhacophoridae
Sub-family: Rhacophorinae
| 131 | Polypedates leucomystax | (Gravenhorst, 1829) | Least concerned |
| 132 | Polypedates maculates | (Gray, 1834) | Least concerned |
Family: Ranidae
| 133 | Hydrophylax malabaricus | Tschudi, 1838 | Least concerned |
Table 4. Species earlier present in the Western Ghats , now in Sri Lanka
| 134 | Philautus leucorhinus | Extinct |
| 135 | Philautus variabilis | Extinct |
| 136 | Philautus femoralis | Endangered |
| 137 | Philautus temporalis | Extinct |
| 138 | Philautus adspersus | Extinct |
| 139 | Philautus nasutus | Extinct |
Table 4. Species that lost identity after 2001.
| 140 | Philautus pulcherrimus |
| 141 | Philautus crnri |
| 142 | Philautus hassanensis |
| 143 | Philautus melanensis |
| 144 | Philautus nobeli |
| 145 | Philautus parkeri |
| 146 | Philautus punctatus |
Reference: • Frost DR, Grant T, Faivovich J, Bain RH, Haas A, Haddad CFB, De Sá RO, Channing A, Wilkinson M, Donnellan SC, Raxworthy CJ, Moler P, Drewes RC, Nussbaum RA, Lynch JD, Green DM, Wheeler WC. 2006. • The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297: 370pp. www.calacademy.org/research/Herpetology/pdfs/amphibian_tree .pdf • Gururaja K V. 2004. Sahyadri Mandooka - Amphibians of Western Ghats http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/biodiversity/sahyadri_enews/newsletter/issue6/index.htm
• Bossuyt F, Dubois A (2001) A review of the frog genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae, Rhacophorinae). Zeylanica 6:1-112
• Manamendra-Arachchi K, Pethiyagoda R (2005) The Sri Lankan shrub-frogs of the genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae), with description of 27 new species. Raff Bull Zool Suppl12:163- 303 |
| Photos & Information Compiled By: |
Dr. K V Gururaja |