The Indian burrowing frog (''Sphaerotheca breviceps'') is a species of frog found in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
(
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 and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
,
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 ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and in
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
).
Description
Its vomerine teeth form two oblique groups extending a little beyond the hind edge of the choanse. Its habit is stout. The head is short, with a rounded snout; the occiput is swollen, and the interorbital space is narrower than the upper eyelid. The tympanum is distinct, about two-thirds the diameter of the eye. The fingers are moderate and obtuse, with the first extending much beyond second, nearly as long as third; the toes are moderate, obtuse, and half-webbed; the subarticular tubercles are moderate, with the inner metatarsal tubercle being very large, sharp-edged, shovel-shaped, and longer than the inner toe; no outer tubercle or tarsal fold is present. The hind limbs are short, and the tibiotarsal articulation reaches the axilla or the tympanum. The skin above is smooth or granulate, with some scattered tubercles or short, interrupted longitudinal folds; a strong fold runs from the eye to the shoulder; the belly and lower surfaces of thighs are granulate. In color, it is light brown or olive above, with darker spots or marblings, often a light vertebral band, and sometimes another on the upper side of each flank; the throats of males are blackish, and those of females are usually brown-spotted. The male has two well-developed internal subgular vocal sacs.
[Boulenger, G. A. (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia]
From snout to vent, it averages 2.5 inches.
It is found in the drier regions of India from the Punjab and Sind to southern India and Sri Lanka. In the Himalayas, it occurs up to about 7000 feet. The structure of the hind limbs enables this frog to burrow in the ground for about 1.5 feet.
Habitat
The habitat ranges from dry, arid land to moist, deciduous forest. The
microhabitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
in which this frog is found includes leaf litter or under rocks, in crevices or in open spaces in arid areas.
References
External links
Sphaerotheca brevicepsat AmphibiaWeb
Sphaerotheca brevicepsat Global Amphibians Assessment
{{Taxonbar, from=Q964464
Sphaerotheca (frog)
Amphibians of Myanmar
Frogs of India
Amphibians of Nepal
Amphibians of Pakistan
Frogs of Sri Lanka
Amphibians described in 1799