Records of the Zoological Survey of India - A Journal of Indian Zoology

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A New Species of Sphaerotheca Gunther, 1859 (Amphibia: Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Agro Ecosystems of Chota Nagpur Plateau, India


Affiliations
1 Wildlife Institute of India, P O Box 18, Chandrabani - 248001, Uttarakhand, India
2 Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune - 411044, Maharashtra, India
3 Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560012, Karnataka, India
4 Biodiversity Research and Conservation Foundation, 73 Gulmohar Colony, ITI Road, Satara - 415002, Maharashtra, India
5 Department of Zoology, Balasaheb Desai College, Patan, Satara - 415206, Maharashtra, India
 

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Members of the genus Sphaerotheca are known to have the distribution in the low to mid elevation landscapes of South Asia. Most of the descriptions are either from homestead areas or from agro ecosystems except for a couple of species described from the mid elevated forest areas. The taxonomic uncertainties prevalent in the group was attended very recently, limiting the descriptions of five species to India, two species to Nepal and one each to Pakistan and Sri Lanka (one undescribed species from Myanmar). Here a new species assignable to the morphological 'Breviceps group' is described from the agro ecosystems of Jharkhand based on a combination of morphological, phylogenetic and geographical studies using integrated taxonomic approach. Besides, the distribution status of Sphaerotheca pashchima is discussed and the possibility of a new species occurring in Myanmar is pointed out.

Keywords

Agro Ecosystem, Jharkhand, New Species, Plateau, Sphaerotheca.
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  • A New Species of Sphaerotheca Gunther, 1859 (Amphibia: Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Agro Ecosystems of Chota Nagpur Plateau, India

Abstract Views: 309  |  PDF Views: 161

Authors

Vishal Kumar Prasad
Wildlife Institute of India, P O Box 18, Chandrabani - 248001, Uttarakhand, India
K. P. Dinesh
Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune - 411044, Maharashtra, India
Abhijit Das
Wildlife Institute of India, P O Box 18, Chandrabani - 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Priyanka Swamy
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560012, Karnataka, India
Ajinkya D. Shinde
Biodiversity Research and Conservation Foundation, 73 Gulmohar Colony, ITI Road, Satara - 415002, Maharashtra, India
Jadhav Bapurao Vishnu
Department of Zoology, Balasaheb Desai College, Patan, Satara - 415206, Maharashtra, India

Abstract


Members of the genus Sphaerotheca are known to have the distribution in the low to mid elevation landscapes of South Asia. Most of the descriptions are either from homestead areas or from agro ecosystems except for a couple of species described from the mid elevated forest areas. The taxonomic uncertainties prevalent in the group was attended very recently, limiting the descriptions of five species to India, two species to Nepal and one each to Pakistan and Sri Lanka (one undescribed species from Myanmar). Here a new species assignable to the morphological 'Breviceps group' is described from the agro ecosystems of Jharkhand based on a combination of morphological, phylogenetic and geographical studies using integrated taxonomic approach. Besides, the distribution status of Sphaerotheca pashchima is discussed and the possibility of a new species occurring in Myanmar is pointed out.

Keywords


Agro Ecosystem, Jharkhand, New Species, Plateau, Sphaerotheca.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi%2Fv119%2Fi3%2F2019%2F132173