''Microhyla ornata'', commonly known as the ornate narrow-mouthed frog, ornate narrow-mouthed toad, or ornamented pygmy frog, is a species of

microhylid The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 57 genera and 11 subfamilies. Evolution A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. (2007) has estima ...

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 ...

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 ...

. This

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

is distributed in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

, Nepal, peninsular India and the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was previously considered to be the same species as ''

Microhyla fissipes ''Microhyla fissipes'' (commonly known as the ornate chorus frog) is a microhylid frog from East Asia, East and Southeast Asia, from southern and central China and Taiwan to the Malay Peninsula. It was previously considered to be the same species ...

''; therefore, the aforementioned common names can refer to either species.

Description

Frogs of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Microhyla ''Microhyla'', commonly known as the rice frogs or narrow-mouthed frogs, is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It consists of 42 species of diminutive frogs. Members of this genus are widespread from Ryukyu Is. in Japan, and throughout ...

'' are small. They can be identified by the typical arrow-shaped mark on their

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

side. They are generally of yellowish color with dark brown patch. This species has a small head, no teeth and no discernible

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

. The fingertips are spathulate and there is little webbing between the digits. The males do not have

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 ...

s. The skin on the back is mainly smooth, but there are some granulations. Males are about from snout to vent and females about .

Distribution and habitat

The ornate narrow-mouthed frog is native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is found in

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

and

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

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 ranging from

tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi- humid climate regions of subtropical and ...

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in la ...

tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-roun ...

and

tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a tropical forest habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. These forests are found predominantly in North America, North and Central America and experience low level ...

. In some habitats, this frog may take shelter in the dung of

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

Biology

The ornate narrow-mouthed frog lives semi-buried in leaf litter on the forest floor. It is mainly

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 ...

but it is also active during the day during the rainy season. It breeds in ponds and temporary pools that form in the rainy season.

Status

This frog has a wide range and the population seems to be stable so the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

rates it as being of "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

" as it considers that the rate of decline, if any, is insufficient to justify listing it in a more threatened category. It is common throughout most of its range and is tolerant of a range of different habitat types. No particular threats to this species have been identified.

References

External links

Species account
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715667 ornata Amphibians described in 1841 Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Amphibians of Bangladesh Frogs of India Amphibians of Nepal Amphibians of Pakistan Frogs of Sri Lanka Fauna of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands