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| Pseudophilautus conniffae
Batuwita, De Silva & Udugampala, 2019
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ABSTRACT
We describe a new Pseudophilautus species, P. conniffae sp. nov. from southern Sri Lanka. It was previously confused with Pseudophilautus rus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda). The new species differs from the latter by the combination of the following characters: fourth toe webbing to penultimate subarticular tubercle on inner and outer sides (vs. fourth toe webbing in between penultimate and anetpenultimate subarticular tubercles on inner and outer sides), presence of conical median lingual process (vs. absent), and black patches on the posterior flank, anterior and posterior edges of the thigh (vs. black patches on the anterior surface of the thigh). Pseudophilautus conniffae sp. nov. may be sympatric with P. limbus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda), which shares certain characters with the new species. The new species is, however, distinguished from P. limbus by the following characters: having supernumerary tubercles on manus (vs. lacking), absence of frontoparietal ridges (vs. presence), fourth toe webbing to penultimate subarticular tubercle on both sides (vs. fourth toe webbing between penultimate and anetpenultimate subarticular tubercle on both sides), third toe webbing to distal subarticular tubercle on both sides (vs. distal subarticular tubercle on outer side and below penultimate subarticular tubercle on inner side), and having the dorsum light brown with dark brown patches (vs. black and yellow variegated pattern on dorsum). The new species may be restricted to the southwestern wet zone of Sri Lanka. It is compared with all known Pseudophilautus species and also provided with a field key to identify it from those species that are sympatric with it or inhabit the southwestern wet zone.
Keywords: Dediyagala, Pseudophilautus rus, Pseudophilautus silvaticus, lowland rainforest
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| Pseudophilautus conniffae sp. nov.: [upper] live coloration of male from Hiyare forest Reserve (not preserved), [lower] live coloration of female paratype, NMSL WCSG 0002, 30.7mm SVL from Dediyagala Forest Reserve. |
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| Pseudophilautus conniffae sp. nov. live coloration of male from Hiyare forest Reserve (not preserved). |
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| Pseudophilautus conniffae sp. nov. live coloration of female paratype, NMSL WCSG 0002, 30.7mm SVL from Dediyagala Forest Reserve. |
Pseudophilautus conniffae sp. nov.
Conniff’s Shrub Frog
Diagnosis: Mature male holotype 23.5mm in SVL. Tympanum discernible. Dorsal surface of body glandular, with prominent warts. Supratympanic fold prominent. Canthal edges more or less straight. Skin on head co-ossified with cranium. Nuptial pads absent. Median lingual process present, small and conical. Tarsal tubercle present. Supernumerary tubercles present on manus and pes. Toes medially webbed. Chest and belly heavily granular. Large, dark brown more or less square-shaped blotch on middorsum between forelimbs. Anterior and posterior surfaces of thigh and posterior flank region with black and white patches (Image 1D).
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Etymology: The species name is an eponym honoring Karen Iynn Conniff for her generous support for the establishment of the WCSG and for her efforts to document the Odonata of Sri Lanka.
Sudesh Batuwita, Madura De Silva and Sampath Udugampala. 2019. Description of A New Species of Pseudophilautus (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae) from southern Sri Lanka. Journal of Threatened Taxa. 11(1); 13120-13131. DOI: 10.11609/jott.3903.11.1.13120-13131
