Pseudophilautus Viridis
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''Pseudophilautus'' is a genus of shrub frogs in the family
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 ...
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 ...
to the Western Ghats of southwestern
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 ...
and to
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, ...
where the majority of the species are found. Many of them are already
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
(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 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 ...
: 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 high (e.g., during periods of rainfall). When a male has attracted a female to its vicinity, it approaches the female and enters the
amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of Mating, mating behavior exhibited by some External fertilization, externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians, Amphipoda, amphipods, and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his fro ...
. In ground breeding species, the pair then ascends to the ground, changing colouration to match that of the leaf litter or soil, probably as
camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
. Female locates a suitable spot and excavates a cavity where the eggs are laid. After
oviposition The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...
, the female mixes the eggs with soil and the male dismounts and returns to a perch. Female also leaves the site after covering the nest; there is no parental care. In leaf nesting species, the overall sequence is similar, but the pair does not change the colour. Eggs are adhesive and deposited to underside of a leaf. The female attends the eggs for few hours after oviposition, apparently to ensure that the eggs are properly attached. Eggs are in diameter. Egg development takes 24–68 days. ''Pseudophilautus'' embryos lack external gills but they have a relatively large, vascularized tail. It is probable that embryos use their tail for
respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellul ...
. Depending on the species, froglets hatch with or without the tail fully absorbed but with the yolk sac still visible.


List of species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Pseudophilautus'', including eight species described in 2013 by Wickramasinghe and colleagues:


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3016713 Rhacophoridae Amphibians of Asia Amphibian genera Taxa named by Raymond Laurent