WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 25(1):57–59 • APR 2018

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES A New . ChasingLocality Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer Record sayi) in Wisconsin: for Leith’s Leaping , On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Indirana. The Shared leithii History of Treeboas ((BoulengerCorallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: 1888), from Dhulda A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 Village,RESEARCH The ARTICLES Dangs District, Gujarat, . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ...... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida Dikansh S. Parmar ...... Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 Department of Biosciences, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat, Gujarat, India ([email protected]) CONSERVATION ALERT . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... Photographs by the author...... 220 . More Than Mammals ...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of ...... 225

eith’s Leaping HUSBANDRYFrog (Indirana leithii; Fig. 1) is a small, . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ...... Shannon Plummer 226 Lslender-bodied frog also known as the Matherana Leaping Frog (fromPROFILE the type locality). These inhabit a wide range of subtropical. Kraig Adler:and Atropical Lifetime Promoting moist Herpetology lowland ...... forests, Michael L. Treglia 234 subtropical or tropicalCOMMENTARY moist montane forests, and heavily degraded forests in which. The Turtles they Have are Been Watchingassociated Me ...... with leaf lit- Eric Gangloff 238 ter near streams andBOOK rivers, REVIEW waterfalls, crevices, and various wetlands, where breeding. Threatened occurs Amphibians on moist of the World surfaces edited by and S.N. Stuart,lar- M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, vae inhabit moist areas R.near Berridge, water P. Ramani, (Biju and B.E.2001; Young Padhye ...... and Robert Powell 243 Ghate 2002; Biju et al. 2004). Until recently, this endemic  CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ...... 245 Indian species had beenNATURAL documented HISTORY RESEARCHonly from REPORTS the Western: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ...... 247 Ghats of Maharashtra NEWBRIEFS State. Although ...... the report of the spe- ...... 248  EDITORIAL INFORMATION ...... 251 cies from Gujarat in FOCUSDaniel ON and CONSERVATION Shull (1964): Ais Project questionable You Can Support ...... 252 (they provided only a description but no locality data for a site from which they collected larvae), Dahanukar et al. (2016) collected two specimens in 2014 from Ahwa, capital of The Dangs District (20.764°N, 73.676°E;Front elev. Cover. 395 Shannon m). Plummer. Herein I Back Cover. Michael Kern report a new locality and an earlier Totatstate et record velleseque from audant Gujaratmo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil at the extreme northernmost edgeerspienimus, of the species’ quos accullabo. range Ilibus in erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus the tropical moist deciduous forest autof dolorThe apicto Dangs invere District pe dolum in aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque Gujarat State, India (Fig. 2). moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- At 0214 h during a field trip onma 28 derrovitae October voluptam, 2012, as quos while tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as investigating small crevices, rock accullabo.piles, and plants near a waterfall adjacent a single-lane road between the villages of

Fig. 2. Map showing the range of Leith’s Leaping Frog (Indirana leithii) in the of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Map by Nitin Patel.

Dhulda and Mahal (20°57’00.97”N, 73°39’34.88”E; elev. 264 m), I sighted a small, brown frog with large toe discs sticking firmly on the wet rocks of the waterfall (Figs. 3 & 4). After taking photographs from various angles and meas- urements of body length (34 mm), I released it at the original Fig. 1. Leith’s Leaping Frog (Indirana leithii) on wet rocks at the waterfall site of capture. By law, no one is allowed to take anything in Dhuldha Village, The Dangs District, Gujarat, India. from the forest without permission, thus I did not collect the

Copyright © 2018. Dikansh S. Parmar. All rights reserved. 57 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 PARMAR IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 25(1):57–59 • APR 2018 specimen for a more detailed examination. Based on descrip- tions of features (Figs. 3 & 5) in Daniel and Sekar (1989), Ranjit Daniels (2005) and Dahanukar et al. (2016), I ten- tatively identified the frog as Indirana leithii and gave it the vernacular Gujarati name, Leith no chalang marto dedko (a translation of the English common name). Despite being locally abundant in parts of Maharashtra, I. leithii is definitely known from only two localities in Gujarat. Although more extensive study is required to better understand the species’ distribution, Biju et al. (2004) listed it as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to apparently declining numbers, severe frag- mentation of its distribution, and ongoing loss in extent and quality of its forest habitat. With an extent of occurrence less than 20,000 km2, the species faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. Degraded forest and disease (e.g., Nair et al. 2011; Dahanukar et al. 2013; Molur et al. 2015) are major threats. Deforestation is common throughout The Dangs District, where once-dense forest has been turned into vast agricultural lands. Trees are cut even on hilly or sloped areas both along roads and many kilometers into remaining forests. Another threat is chytridiomycosis (a fungal disease cause by

Fig. 4. The location on the waterfall (red circle) where I found a Leith’s Leaping Frog (Indirana leithii).

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), which has been reported in I. leithii and I. brachytarsus (Nair et al. 2011; Dahanukar et al. 2013; Molur et al. 2015). Unless preventative conservation

Fig. 3. Leith’s Leaping Frog (Indirana leithii) with prominent tympanum Fig. 5. Leith’s Leaping Frog (Indirana leithii) hand and foot: Ventral view two-thirds the diameter of the eye, pinkish-brown ground color, W-shaped of palm and fingers with a single outer palmer tubercle and first finger mark, rugose skin with longitudinal warts and black, dark brown, and golden shorter than second (top). Webbing formula of Indirana leithii I1–2II1– spots, distinct supratympanic fold, and crossbars on limbs. 2III1–3IV3–1V. Drawings by Vasudev Limbachiya.

58 PARMAR IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 25(1):57–59 • APR 2018 measures are implemented quickly, many species, including a rans of the Northern Western Ghats, India. PLoS ONE 8: e77528. number of endemics, are likely to disappear forever. Dahanukar, N., K. Krutha, P.O. Nameer, A.D. Padhye, N. Modak, and S. Molur. 2016. Leaping frogs (Anura: ) of the Western Ghats of India: An integrated taxonomic review. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8: 9221–9288. Acknowledgements Daniel, J.C. and A.G. Sekar.1989. Field guide to the amphibians of western India I thank Nitin Patel for creating the range map, Jenish R. Part 4. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 86: 194–202. Patel for assistance with mapping records, R.J. Ranjit Daniels Daniel, J.C. and E.M. Shull. 1964. A list of the reptiles and amphibians of Surat Dangs, (Trustee, Care Earth Trust) for support and encouragement, South Gujarat. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 60: 737–743. Ranjit Daniels, R.J. 2005. Amphibians of Peninsular India. Universities Press, and Vasudev Limbachiya for the sketches in Fig. 5. Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Molur, S., K. Krutha, M.S. Paingankar, and N. Dahanukar. 2015. Asian strain of Literature Cited Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is widespread in the Western Ghats, India. Biju, S.D. 2001. A synopsis to the frog fauna of the Western Ghats, India. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 112: 251–255. Occasional Publications of the Indian Society for Conservation Biology 1: 1–24. Nair, A., O. Daniel, S.V. Gopalan, S. George, K.S. Kumar, J. Merilä, and A.G.F. Biju, S.D., D. Sushil, P. Anand, and I. Robert. 2004. Indirana leithii. The IUCN Teacher. 2011. Infectious disease screening of Indirana frogs from the Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T58311A11763222. Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Herpetological Review 42: 554–557. Dahanukar, N., K. Krutha, M.S. Paingankar, A.D. Padhye, N. Modak, and S. Molur. Padhye, A.D. and H.V. Ghate, H.V. 2002. An overview of fauna of 2013. Endemic Asian chytrid strain infection in threatened and endemic anu- Maharashtra State. Zoos’ Print Journal 17: 735–740.

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