Fejervarya orissaensis (Dutta)

Prasad, Vishal Kumar, Gautam, Kumudani Bala, Gupta, Sandeep Kumar, Murthy, R. Sreenivasa, Ramesh, K., Shinde, Ajinkya Duttatray & Das, Abhijit, 2020, Identification of anuran species diversity of the Panna Tiger Reserve, Central India, using an integrated approach, Zootaxa 4851 (3), pp. 450-476 : 458

Fejervarya orissaensis (Dutta)

( Fig 4D )

Specimens examined: two males (WIIAD 227 & WIIAD 249) and an individual with sex undetermined (WIIAD 066).

Morphological features: Adult males SVL 42.7–42.9 mm (n=2) and an individual (sex unknown) SVL 39.4 mm; body robust; head slightly longer than wide; snout obtusely pointed in dorsal view; eyes large; tympanum distinct, nearly ½ the diameter of eye, distinct supratympanic fold; tubercles present on dorsal and lateral body, short longitudinal ridges on mid-dorsum, fejervaryan lines on abdomen; fingers without disc and rounded, relative length of fingers II = IV <I <III; poorly developed toe webbing, toes tips rounded, relative length of toes 1<2<5<3<4, inner metatarsal tubercle elongated. Calling males had subgular paired vocal sac. Coloration in life: Brown dorsum with dark grey spots; fore limb and hind limb cross-barred with dark grey; upper and lower jaws marked with bands; pale yellow mottling on posterior thigh; ventral side of body white. Vocal sac of calling male was black.

Bioacoustics: We analysed 50 advertisement calls from five males. Calls were recorded between 22:40–00:20 hours and calling site air temperature was between 26.9°C–29.9°C. The calls were pulsatile and emitted mostly at regular intervals. The calling males produced single type calls with mean call duration of 98.76 ± 8.69 ms (82–109 ms). The pulse rate was 104.46 ± 2.03 pulses/s (94.59–107.53 pulses/s) with mean of 9.76 ± 0.98 pulses per call. The mean dominant frequency was 2412.59 ± 6.34.95 Hz (1162.80–2842.40 Hz).

Remark: Common in PTR. Breeding observed in seasonal rainwater puddles in paddy fields in July. The presence of this morphologically cryptic anuran is genetically confirmed in this study ( Fig 8A ). This is the north-westernmost confirmed record of this species in its range (780 kilometers aerial distance from type locality in Orissa), and a new state record for Madhya Pradesh state.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Photos of anuran species in life recorded during the study:A) Duttaphrynus melanostictus; B) Duttaphrynus scaber; C) Duttaphrynus stomaticus; D) Fejervarya orissaensis; E) Minervarya caperata; F) Minervarya pierrei; G) Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis; H) Hoplobatrachus crassus; I) Hoplobatrachus tigerinus; J) Sphaerotheca pashchima; K) Microhyla nilphamariensis; L) Uperodon globulosus; M) Uperodon systoma; N) Uperodon variegatus; O) Polypedates maculatus. Red star indicates new state records for Madhya Pradesh.

FIGURE 8A. Maximum Likelihood tree based on the 16S mitochondrial DNA dataset (nodes having>50% bootstrap values are shown) of genera A. Fejervarya and Minervarya.