''Indosylvirana serendipi'', or the Sri Lankan golden-backed frog, is a species of

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 ski ...

in the family Ranidae. It is

endemic 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 foun ...

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, ...

Description

Body slender and head small. Supertympanic ridge absent. Subarticular tubercles prominent on toes. Third toe webbing extends up to the disc on the outside. Loreal region acute. Vomerine ridge present. Dermal fringe present. Dorsum reddish-brown with black. Tympanum area dark brown. Upper lip with a white stripe. Iris reddish brown with golden specks and dark patches. Flanks light yellowish-gray. Light brown limbs with grayish cross-bands. Ventrum whitish. Throat and limbs light grey. Male has a

nuptial pad A nuptial pad (also known as thumb pad, or nuptial excrescence) is a secondary sex characteristic present on some mature male frogs and salamanders. Triggered by androgen hormones, this breeding gland (a type of mucous gland) appears as a spike ...

Distribution

The frog is point endemic, where specimen only found from Kudawa araa of Sinharaja rain forest.

Ecology

Its natural

habitat 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 ...

s are tropical lowland evergreen forests, banks of streams and in marshy areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q41581258, from2=Q28050683 serendipi Frogs of Sri Lanka Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Amphibians described in 1829 Taxa named by Sathyabhama Das Biju