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Pseudophilautus Asankai
''Pseudophilautus asankai'', commonly called Asanka's shrub frog (named after Asanka Goonewardena), is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It lives on shrubs in places where there is a break in the canopy large enough to allow sufficient sunlight. The adult male frog measures about 21.2 – 23.4 mm in snout-vent length. There is fringed skin on the toes of the front feet and webbed skin on the toes of the hind feet. The skin of the dorsum and tops of the legs is ash-brown in colour. The toes of all four feet, parts of the legs, and the ventrum are yellow in colour. Parts of the frog's middle and back legs have small yellow spots. Like other frogs in ''Pseudophilautus'', ''P. asankai'' undergoes direct development. Small froglets hatch out of eggs without ever undergoing a tadpole stage. It is threatened by habitat loss Habi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to wart-like parotoid glands tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal and purely cosmetic, not from taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest and associated wetlands. They account for around 88% of extant amphibian species, and are one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar (250Myr, million years ago), but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their divergent evolution, divergence from other amphibians may exte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Development
Direct development is a concept in biology. It refers to forms of growth to adulthood that do not involve metamorphosis. An animal undergoes direct development if the immature organism resembles a small adult rather than having a distinct larval form. A frog that hatches out of its egg as a small frog undergoes direct development. A frog that hatches out of its egg as a tadpole does not. Direct development is the opposite of complete metamorphosis. An animal undergoes complete metamorphosis if it becomes a non-moving thing, for example a pupa in a cocoon, between its larval and adult stages. Examples *Most frogs in the genus ''Callulina'' hatch out of their eggs as froglets. *Springtails and mayflies Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the order ..., called ametabolous ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxa Named By Rohan Pethiyagoda
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based (" Linnaean") nomenclature (much less so under phylogenetic nomenclature). If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were presumably set forth in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers, as suggested by the fairly sophisticated folk taxonomies. Much later, Aristotle, and later stil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frogs Of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. It is situated in the middle of Indian Ocean. Because of being an island, Sri Lanka has rich endemic terrestrial and freshwater fauna, including vertebrates and several invertebrates. Amphibian *Phylum: Chordata *Class: Amphibia Amphibians are ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. They have soft glandular skin and live in all habitats of the world except for the ice caps. They complete an amphibious lifestyle where larval stages live in water and adults live on or closer to land. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators. Sri Lanka is host to over 120 species of amphibians, of which over 90 species are endemic to the country. The 85% of endemicity ratio makes Sri Lanka the country which has the highest amphibian endemism in Asia. During the past decade many more new amphibians have been found in Sri Lanka. The first amphibian review ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Sri Lanka
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or becomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudophilautus
''Pseudophilautus'' is a genus of shrub frogs in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India and to Sri Lanka where the majority of the species are found. Many of them are already extinct (marked with † in the species list). On the other, some species believed to be extinct have also been rediscovered. '' Pseudophilautus amboli'', one of the Indian species Reproduction Frogs in genus ''Pseudophilautus'' have direct development: eggs develop directly into froglets that resemble small adults. This strategy makes fully terrestrial reproduction possible. However, the eggs still require high humidity, and periods of dry weather may be detrimental. The majority of species where reproductive behaviour is known deposit eggs in soil on the forest floor and only one ('' Pseudophilautus femoralis'') on the leaves of understory shrubs. Males use advertisement calls to attract females, and tend to call more intensively during darkness and when humidity is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudophilautus Hoffmanni
''Pseudophilautus asankai'', commonly called Asanka's shrub frog (named after Asanka Goonewardena), is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It lives on shrubs in places where there is a break in the canopy large enough to allow sufficient sunlight. The adult male frog measures about 21.2 – 23.4 mm in snout-vent length. There is fringed skin on the toes of the front feet and webbed skin on the toes of the hind feet. The skin of the dorsum and tops of the legs is ash-brown in colour. The toes of all four feet, parts of the legs, and the ventrum are yellow in colour. Parts of the frog's middle and back legs have small yellow spots. Like other frogs in ''Pseudophilautus'', ''P. asankai'' undergoes direct development. Small froglets hatch out of eggs without ever undergoing a tadpole stage. It is threatened by habitat loss Habi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habitat Loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and Abundance (ecology), species numbers. Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide. Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the Exploitation of natural resources, use of natural resources, agriculture, industrial production and urbanization (urban sprawl). Other activities include mining, logging and trawling. Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change, introduced species, introduction of invasive species, ecosystem nutrient depletion, water pollution, water and noise pollution are some examples. Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation and lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Webbed Skin
The webbed foot is a specialized limb with interdigital membranes (webbings) that aids in aquatic locomotion, present in a variety of tetrapod vertebrates. This adaptation is primarily found in semiaquatic species, and has convergently evolved many times across vertebrate taxa. It likely arose from mutations in developmental genes that normally cause tissue between the digits to apoptose. These mutations were beneficial to many semiaquatic animals because the increased surface area from the webbing allowed for more swimming propulsion and swimming efficiency, especially in surface swimmers. The webbed foot also has enabled other novel behaviors like escape responses and mating behaviors. A webbed foot may also be called a paddle to contrast it from a more hydrofoil-like flipper. Morphology A webbed foot has connecting tissue between the toes of the foot. Several distinct conditions can give rise to webbed feet, including interdigital webbing and syndactyly. The webbing can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhacophoridae
The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly known as shrub frogs, or more ambiguously as " moss frogs" or " bush frogs". Some Rhacophoridae are called "tree frogs". Among the most spectacular members of this family are numerous " flying frogs". Although a few groups are primarily terrestrial, rhacophorids are predominantly arboreal treefrogs. Mating frogs, while in amplexus, hold on to a branch, and beat their legs to form a foam. The eggs are laid in the foam and covered with seminal fluid before the foam hardens into a protective casing. In certain species, this process occurs collectively. The foam is deposited above a water source, ensuring that the tadpoles drop into the water upon hatching. The species within this family vary in size from . Like other arboreal frogs, they have toe di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canopy (biology)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community, plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual Crown (botany), plant crowns. In forest ecology, the canopy is the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms (epiphytes, lianas, Arboreal, arboreal animals, etc.). The communities that inhabit the canopy layer are thought to be involved in maintaining forest diversity, Ecological resilience, resilience, and functioning. Shade trees normally have a dense canopy that blocks light from lower growing plants. Early observations of canopies were made from the ground using binoculars or by examining fallen material. Researchers would sometimes erroneously rely on extrapolation by using more reachable samples taken from the understory. In some cases, they would use unconventional methods such as chairs suspended on vines or hot-air dirigibles, among others. Modern technology, including adapted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
