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Journal of Threatened Taxa PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles OPEN ACCESS online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication Osteological description of Indian Skipper Frog Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Western Ghats of India Pankaj A. Gorule, Sachin M. Gosavi, Sanjay S. Kharat & Chandani R. Verma 26 June 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 9 | Pages: 16136–16142 DOI: 10.11609/jot.6031.12.9.16136-16142 For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies, and Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. The journal, the publisher, the host, and the part- Publisher & Host ners are not responsible for the accuracy of the politcal boundaries shown in the maps by the authors. Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2020 | 12(9): 16136–16142 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.6031.12.9.16136-16142 #6031 | Received 21 April 2020 | Final received 24 May 2020 | Finally accepted 11 June 2020 S h o r Osteological descripton of Indian Skipper Frog Euphlycts cyanophlycts t (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Western Ghats of India C o m Pankaj A. Gorule 1 , Sachin M. Gosavi 2 , Sanjay S. Kharat 3 & Chandani R. Verma 4 m u n 1 Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli 1, 09126, Cagliari, Italy i 2 Department of Zoology, Maharashtra College of Arts, Science and Commerce, 246-A, JBB Road, Opp. Alexandra Cinema, Nagpada, c Mumbai Central, Maharashtra 400008, India a 1,3,4 t Department of Zoology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Ganeshkhind, Pune, Maharashtra 400016, India. i 1 [email protected], 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], o 4 [email protected] (corresponding author) n 1 & 2 authors contributed equally. Abstract: The present study provides descripton of the osteology of Amphibians are declining globally with highest Skipper Frog Euphlycts cyanophlycts. Seven adult specimens of E. number of species at risk of extncton than any other cyanophlycts from northern Western Ghats of India were cleared and double stained for studying osteological characteristcs. The baseline vertebrate group (Stuart et al. 2004). Limited informaton descripton of osteological characters of cranial and post-cranial on the basic biology, populaton status, distributon, life- elements (paired nasals, tubular sphenethmoid, well-developed vomerine teeth, arciferal pectoral girdle, fan-shaped omosternum, history and potental threats to the anurans is one of cartlaginous W-shaped xiphisternum, hind limb with longest cylindrical the major hurdles in amphibian conservaton (Dinesh & humerus, V-shaped pectoral girdle and phalangeal appendages) Radhakrishnan 2011; Dahanukar et al. 2013). In additon provided in present study will help in further taxonomic investgatons of the genus Euphlycts. Further, the baseline informaton on osteology to populaton declines, amphibian malformatons has of Skipper frog will serve as a reference material for investgatons become a major conservaton concern and studies related to malformatons, either in this or related species. We also reportng and analyzing amphibian deformites have provide frst observaton on sacro-pelvic malformaton in one of the studied specimens. gained momentum (Johnson et al. 1999; Schof et al. 2003; Peloso 2016). Investgatons into the basic biology, Keywords: Skeletal morphology, amphibian decline, anthropogenic including the osteology of a species, will not only help stressors, malformaton, conservaton. in understanding its taxonomy, but also form a baseline for comparatve osteology of malformed individuals. Therefore, the fundamental objectve of the present Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 June 2020 (online & print) Citaton: Gorule, P.A, S.M. Gosavi, S.S. Kharat & C.R. Verma (2020). Osteological descripton of Indian Skipper Frog Euphlycts cyanophlycts (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Western Ghats of India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(9): 16136–16142. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.6031.12.9.16136-16142 Copyright: © Gorule et al. 2020. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Funding: Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, under DST-FIST scheme. Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and inputs on the earlier version of the manuscript. We also thank Neelesh Dahanukar, Indian Insttute of Science Educaton and Research (IISER), Pune for his constant support, encouragement and help in specimen identfcaton. We thank Nitn Sawant, Priyanka Gore, Manoj Pise, and Pradeep Kumkar for feld assistance. Authors are grateful to Deepak Apte and Rahul Khot for their support in the registraton of specimens in BNHS, Mumbai. 16136 J TT Osteological descripton of Indian Skipper Frog Gorule et al. study was to describe detailed osteology of the Indian posteriorly have cartlaginous occipital condyles, Skipper Frog Euphlycts cyanophlycts (Schneider, 1799) which further artculates with the frst vertebra (atlas) to serve as a baseline data for further investgatons. anteriorly. The outer margin of each exoccipital is Adult specimens (n = 7; SVL= 25.50–55.67 mm) frmly atached to the cartlaginous auditory capsule. of E. cyanophlycts consists of both male and female The anterior wall and partly the roof and foor of individuals were collected from temporary pool situated each capsule are formed by a fully ossifed, roughly at Sangrun (18.404°N & 73.687°E) Haveli, Pune and Nere rectangular prootc. It is partly covered by squamosal (18.619°N & 73.702°E) Mulshi, Pune, Maharashtra, India on its dorsal side. The occipital region is enclosed by on 23 July 2017 and 2 August 2017, respectvely. The frontoparietals, while the foor is occupied by a dagger- specimens were cleared and double stained diferentally shaped parasphenoid. Supraoccipital and basioccipital for bone and cartlage as per Pothof (1984). The are absent. osteological terminology follows Trueb (1973), Duellman Sense capsule, consistng of an auditory capsule, an & Trueb (1986) and Pugener & Maglia (1997). Cleared olfactory capsule and an optcal capsule, encloses the and double stained specimens are deposited in the organs of the hearing, the organs of the smell and the museum collecton of Bombay Natural History Society eye, respectvely. The auditory and olfactory capsules (BNHS) under the accession numbers BNHS 6031–BNHS are frmly atached to the cranium, while the eyes are 6037. not fused with the skull. Nasals are paired, fully ossifed Irrespectve of the sex, no signifcant diferences bones that form the roof of the olfactory capsule were observed in the osteology of seven specimens. The covering the anterior dorsal region of the skull and are osteological representaton of E. cyanophlycts is shown not medially fused. Their anterior ends extend to the in Figure 1. The detailed descripton of the osteology is dorsal processes of the premaxillae and thus partally provided below. form the boundary of external nares. Septomaxillaries are small, irregular-shaped bones present close to the Cranium (Figure 1A & B) anterior part of each nasal bone. Vomers are paired, It is well-developed, triangular and dorso-ventrally completely ossifed, roughly triangular bones, located fat structure. The frontoparietals are paired, fully ventrally to the nasal capsule foor. The presence of ossifed and fat structure forming the roof of the skull. a row of vomerine teeth on the posterolateral margin They are separated throughout their length, cover the is notceable. Anterolateral and lateral margin bears sphenethmoid anteriorly and extend tll the exoccipitals pointed projectons. posteriorly. They fail to artculate with nasals anteriorly but frmly atached with the prootc and exoccipitals Upper jaw (Figure 1A & B) posteriorly. Sphenethmoid is located anterior to the Premaxillae are paired bones, fuse medially, well- cranial cavity and forms the posterior boundary of the ossifed and form the anterior boundary of the maxillary olfactory chambers. It is a tubular-shaped bone formed arch. Each premaxilla has two rows (16 + 14) of teeth. by a combinaton of anterior ethmoidal and posterior On the outer side, each premaxilla artculates a maxilla
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