''Amolops formosus'', also known as Assam sucker frog, beautiful stream frog, Assam cascade frog, or hill stream frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

found in high gradient streams of northern

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, northern

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

, and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, possibly also

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

, although these records may represent confusion between ''

Amolops himalayanus ''Amolops himalayanus'' (Himalaya sucker frog, Himalaya cascade frog, or Himalaya frog) is a species of frog found in northeastern India and Nepal. Whether this species is distinct from ''Amolops formosus'' is still debated. For example, the mos ...

'' and this species; the latest available IUCN assessment from 2004 treats ''A. himalayanus'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''A. formosus''.

Description

Adult males measure, based on the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

only, and females measure in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

. The head is relatively wide. The tympanum is small but distinct. The fingers have no webbing while the toes are fully webbed; both fingers and toes bear discs. Skin is smooth. The dorsum is green with irregular distinct chocolate-coloured blotches with yellow dots. The ventral parts are light with a greenish abdomen.

Habitat and conservation

''Amolops formosus'' is a rare frog associated with streams and riparian vegetation within tropical evergreen forest at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by deforestation and dams. It is present in the

Namdapha National Park Namdapha National Park is a large protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India. The park was established in 1983. With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. The ...

and

Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary The Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the eight Wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuaries of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Location It is located in the Upper Dibang Valley district covering an area of . The sanctuary is rich in wildlife. Rare mam ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...

(India).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2712481

formosus Pope Formosus (896) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the K ...

Amphibians of Bangladesh Frogs of India Amphibians of Nepal Amphibians described in 1876 Taxa named by Albert Günther