''Firouzophrynus hololius'', known as Günther's toad, Malabar toad, or rock toad, is an uncommon, rock-dwelling

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

found in the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

and

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

plateau of peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Description

The crown of this toad lacks bony ridges and has a short, prominent snout. Its inter-orbital space as broad and the upper eyelid; tympanum very distinct, nearly as large as the eye and close to it. Fingers short, first extending a little beyond second; toes short, webbed at the base only; subarticular tubercles single, not very prominent; two small metatarsal tubercles; no tarsal fold. The tarso-metatarsal articulation reaches the eye. Skin smooth, the back with very flat, smooth, distinctly porous glandular patches; parotoids flat. Olive above, marbled with brown: beneath immaculate. From snout to vent about 2 inches.

Distribution

This toad is known from rocky hillocks and outcrops of

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Hosur is one of the 21 municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...

Gingee Gingee, also known as Senji or Jinji and originally called Singapuri, is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Gingee is located between three hills covering a perimeter of 3 km, and lies west of the ...

and

Javadi Hills The Javadhu Hills (also Jawadhu, Jawadhu Hills) are an extension of the Eastern Ghats spread across parts of Vellore, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai districts in the northern part of the state of Tamil Nadu in south-eastern India. The hills ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Chittoor Chittoor is a city and district headquarters in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal and divisional headquarters of Chittoor mandal and Chittoor revenue division respectively. The city has a popul ...

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

and

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is a masonry dam across the Krishna River at Nagarjuna Sagar which straddles the border between Nalgonda district in Telangana and Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh. The dam provides irrigation water to the districts of Kr ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. (It was previously mistaken to be found in the Western Ghats).

Natural history

This uncommon species of toad is very partial to rocky habitats; being only found in places with predominantly rocky substrate and boulder formations. Thought to be

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

and

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

; and to become active during the rains. Breeds by laying eggs in stagnant ephemeral pools and

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s formed only on rocky surfaces, but not on soil layers. Tadpoles develop in ephemeral pools on rock scapes. Young ones are very bright replicas of the adults; sporting vivid scarlet red spots on body. Its depressed body form may indicate a life suited for rock-dwelling habits. The threats are not exactly known but habitat loss is possible; it also occurs in Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve and possibly but needing verification Bannerghatta National Park. It has a fragmented and declining population and there were no recent records until 2009, when it was re-sighted in the Hosur Forest Division. Following this work more sightings turned out subsequently from Thommaguddai, Ambur Range, Tiruppattur, Vellore and it was seen three more times in 2012.

References

Bufonidae Amphibians described in 1876 Taxa named by Albert Günther Frogs of India Endemic fauna of India {{Bufonidae-stub