Uperodon, Garg & Senevirathne & Wijayathilaka & Phuge & Deuti & Manamendra-Arachchi & Meegaskumbura & Biju, 2018

Garg, Sonali, Senevirathne, Gayani, Wijayathilaka, Nayana, Phuge, Samadhan, Deuti, Kaushik, Manamendra-Arachchi, Kelum, Meegaskumbura, Madhava & Biju, Sd, 2018, An integrative taxonomic review of the South Asian microhylid genus Uperodon, Zootaxa 4384 (1), pp. 1-88 : 16-17

Genus Uperodon

Type species Uperodon systoma

Uperodon Duméril and Bibron, 1841 . Erpétologie Genérale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles . Volume 8. Paris: Librarie Enclyclopedique de Roret. Type species. Engystoma marmoratum Guérin-Méneville, 1838 (= Rana systoma Schneider, 1799 ) by monotypy.

Hyperodon Agassiz, 1846 . Nomenclator Zoologicus Continens Nomina Systematica Generum Animalium tam Viventium quam Fossilium. Fasicle 12 (Indicem Universalem). Soloduri: Jent et Gassmann.

Cacopus Günther, 1864 “1863”. The Reptiles of British India. London: Ray Society by R. Hardwicke.

Ramanella Rao and Ramanna, 1925 . On a new genus of the family Engystomatidae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1925: 587–597.

Common name. Globular Frogs ( Frank & Ramus 1995)

Diagnosis. Small to large-sized frogs (male SVL 21–56 mm, female SVL 28–72 mm) with globular appearance; head wider than long; pupil oval; skin shagreened to glandular; tympanum hidden; tongue emarginate posteriorly, with or without lingual papillae; fingers free, dermal fringes present, tips of fingers with truncate discs (except in Uperodon globulosus and U. systoma : rounded, slightly enlarged without discs), without dorsoterminal grooves; webbing between fingers absent; webbing between toes present or absent; prevomers divided or undivided, clavicles absent, and procoracoids rudimentary ( Parker 1934; Ramaswami 1936).

Distribution. Genus Uperodon is restricted to the Indian subcontinent. It is known to occur widely in India and Sri Lanka, with some reports from adjacent countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. The distribution of the genus extends from 05.9°– 33.7° N and 70.5°– 95.4° E ( Fig. 2 ). Of the 12 nominal species, eight are restricted to the Western Ghats– Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot region, with one Indian member ( U. variegatus ) more widely distributed outside the Western Ghats, while three species occur across the entire known range of the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A. Geographic distribution of the genus Uperodon in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; B. Distributionof Uperodon globulosus, U. systomaand U.taprobanicus; C. Distribution of four endemic Uperodon species of the Western Ghats (excluding the widely distributed Indian member U. variegatus, shown in Fig.12A); D. Distribution of four endemic Uperdodon species of Sri Lanka. Details of localities reported in the present study are provided in Table 1. Records from literature are listed in supplementary Table S1 and indicated here based onapproximate coordinates.