Raorchestes

Raorchestes is a genus of frogs in the subfamily Rhacophorinae[2] that can be found in South and Southeast Asia, from southern India to Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos to southern China and Vietnam and West Malaysia.[3] They are particularly diverse in the Western Ghats of India.[3] Only four species from the genus have been reported from southeast Asia and China, of which the third was reported as a range extension from Myanmar in 2019.[4] Before the description of the genus in 2010, species now in Raorchestes had been assigned to genera Ixalus (no longer recognized), Philautus, and Pseudophilautus.[2] A recent study places Raorchestes as a sister taxon of Pseudophilautus.[2][5]

Raorchestes
Raorchestes signatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Subfamily: Rhacophorinae
Genus: Raorchestes
Biju, Shouche, Dubois, Dutta, and Bossuyt, 2010[1]
Type species
Ixalus glandulosus
Jerdon, 1854
Diversity
See text
Raorchestes flaviocularis in India
Raorchestes chalazodes from the Western Ghats.

The genus is named in honour of C. R. Narayan Rao in recognition of his contribution to Indian batrachology.[3] The other root orchestes is based on an older genus name for frogs of the Philautus group, Orchestes Tschudi 1838.[6] Extensive exploration in the range of the genus in the Western Ghats of India suggests an under-estimation of the number of species in the genus.[7][8][9] A study of the diverse specie of the genus show that the separate isolated massifs of the Western Ghats played a major role in the speciation and habitat specificity seen in the genus of bush frogs.[8]

Description
Male Raorchestes luteolus, with its eminent vocal sac
Raorchestes echinatus in India

Raorchestes are largely nocturnal, relatively small frogs with adult body size 15–45 mm (0.6–1.8 in) in snout-vent length. They lack vomerine teeth. Males have a large transparent vocal sac while calling. All described species of Raorchestes thus far, show direct development, that is, their life cycle does not involve a free-swimming tadpole stage.[10] Their eggs hatch-out froglets skipping the tadpole stage making them less dependent on water.[10] Raorchestes tinniens eggs took 36 days to hatch and temperature played a huge role in the development times.[11] Different individuals of a species within this genus can be difficult to identify in the field because of color and pattern variations.[7] Species of the genus Raorchestes also have different variations in their iris and pupil coloration.[3] Difficulties in field identifications are leading to more integrative species description practices within the genus.[12] These difficulties have also lead to potential misidentification of species and ranges.[4]

Frogs of the genus Raorchestes are known as bush frogs, and are known to use different arboreal niches.[8] The exception being the short-limbed Raorchestes resplendens that is known to be ground-dwelling and was discovered on the highest peak of the Western Ghats called Anamudi.[13]

Direct developing eggs of Raorchestes jayarami.

Conservation

IUCN has assessed 38 species of Raorchestes. Many species are Critically Endangered, and one species (Raorchestes travancoricus) was already considered extinct,[14] only to be rediscovered in 2004.[14][3][15] Of the 38, eight are data deficient and 23 are in the critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable categories.[14] The Amphibian Specialist Group's list of "lost frogs" (frogs not seen for decades) includes 10 Raorchestes species.[15] Since several species of the genus have been described in the last 15 years conservation data is relatively poor as are detailed life-history studies.[3][7][12] Several species of the genus are known to have very narrow distribution ranges and are tied to specific niches in the environment which makes it difficult to have blanket conservation policy for the genus.[8][13]

Several species of Raorchestes have been reported in checklists generated from both protected areas, as well as, agro and plantation landscapes.[16][17]

Species

Many new species from India have been described since 2000.[18][19] The following species are currently recognised in the genus Raorchestes:.[2]

References
  1. Biju, S. D.; Yogesh Shouche; Alain Dubois; S. K. Dutta; Franky Bossuyt (2010). "A ground-dwelling rhacophorid frog from the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats of India" (PDF). Current Science. 98 (8): 1119–1125.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Raorchestes Biju, Shouche, Dubois, Dutta, and Bossuyt, 2010". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  3. Biju, S. D.; Bossuyt, F. (2009). "Systematics and phylogeny of Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of 12 new species". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 155 (2): 374–444. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x.
  4. Yu, Guohua; Liu, Shuo; Hou, Mian; Li, Song; Yang, Junxing (2019-04-05). "Extension in distribution of Raorchestes parvulus (Boulenger, 1893) (Anura: Rhacophoridae) to China". Zootaxa. 4577 (2): 381–391. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4577.2.10. ISSN 1175-5334.
  5. Alexander Pyron, R.; Wiens, John J. (2011). "A large-scale phylogeny of Amphibia including over 2800 species, and a revised classification of extant frogs, salamanders, and caecilians". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 61 (2): 543–583. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.06.012. PMID 21723399.
  6. Tschudi, Johann Jakob von; Agassiz, Louis (1838). Classification der Batrachier : mit Berucksichtigung der fossilen Thiere dieser Abtheilung der Reptilien / von J. J. Tschudi. Neuch©Øtel. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.4883.
  7. Vijayakumar, S. P.; Dinesh, K. P.; Prabhu, Mrugank V.; Shanker, Kartik (2014-12-10). "Lineage delimitation and description of nine new species of bush frogs (Anura: Raorchestes , Rhacophoridae) from the Western Ghats Escarpment". Zootaxa. 3893 (4): 451–488. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3893.4.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
  8. Vijayakumar, S. P.; Menezes, Riya C.; Jayarajan, Aditi; Shanker, Kartik (2016-08-17). "Glaciations, gradients, and geography: multiple drivers of diversification of bush frogs in the Western Ghats Escarpment". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283 (1836): 20161011. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.1011. PMC 5013767. PMID 27534957.
  9. Priti, H.; Roshmi, Rekha Sarma; Ramya, Badrinath; Sudhira, H. S.; Ravikanth, G.; Aravind, Neelavara Anantharam; Gururaja, Kotambylu Vasudeva (2016-03-02). "Integrative Taxonomic Approach for Describing a New Cryptic Species of Bush Frog (Raorchestes: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Western Ghats, India". PLOS One. 11 (3): e0149382. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149382. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4774957. PMID 26934213.
  10. Meegaskumbura, Madhava; Senevirathne, Gayani; Biju, S. D.; Garg, Sonali; Meegaskumbura, Suyama; Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Hanken, James; Schneider, Christopher J. (2015). "Patterns of reproductive-mode evolution in Old World tree frogs (Anura, Rhacophoridae)". Zoologica Scripta. 44 (5): 509–522. doi:10.1111/zsc.12121.
  11. "Development of endemic Nilgiri Bush Frog, Raorchestes tinniens (Jerdon, 1853) (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India". ISSCA. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  12. Priti, H.; Roshmi, Rekha Sarma; Ramya, Badrinath; Sudhira, H. S.; Ravikanth, G.; Aravind, Neelavara Anantharam; Gururaja, Kotambylu Vasudeva (2016-03-02). Joger, Ulrich (ed.). "Integrative Taxonomic Approach for Describing a New Cryptic Species of Bush Frog (Raorchestes: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Western Ghats, India". PLOS One. 11 (3): e0149382. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149382. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4774957. PMID 26934213.
  13. Biju, S. D.; Shouche, Yogesh; Dubois, Alain; Dutta, S. K.; Bossuyt, Franky (2010). "A ground-dwelling rhacophorid frog from the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats of India". Current Science. 98 (8): 1119–1125. ISSN 0011-3891. JSTOR 24111771.
  14. IUCN (2014). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>". Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  15. Amphibian Specialist Group (2013). "Lost frogs". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  16. Handbook of climate change and biodiversity. Leal Filho, Walter,, Barbir, Jelena,, Preziosi, Richard. Cham, Switzerland. 2018-08-28. ISBN 978-3-319-98681-4. OCLC 1050437289.CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. Murali, R.; Raman, T. R. S. (2012-08-26). "CEPF Western Ghats Special Series : Streamside amphibian communities in plantations and a rainforest fragment in the Anamalai hills, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa: 2849–2856. doi:10.11609/JoTT.o2829.2849-56. ISSN 0974-7907.
  18. Manoj, E. M. (August 7, 2011). "New species of frogs found in Western Ghats". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  19. "26 new species of frogs and insects discovered in India". Hindustan Times. June 15, 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
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