The bicolored frog or Malabar frog (''Clinotarsus curtipes'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

to the Western Ghats of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The

tadpoles A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in ...

of the species are black and form dense and compact schools in slow moving

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s in forested areas.

Description

The bicolored frog's vomerine teeth scarcely developed, sometimes indistinct. The teeth are in two slightly oblique series on a level with the hind edge of the choanae. Its head large; snout short, rounded, with well-marked ''canthus rostralis'' and concave loreal region ; nostril nearer to the end of the snout than to the

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

; interorbital space broader than the upper eyelid; tympanum distinct, nearly as large as the eye. Fingers moderate, first extending beyond second; toes short, nearly entirely webbed; tips of fingers and toes swollen or dilated into very small disks; subarticular tubercles much developed; inner metatarsal tubercle small, oval, blunt; a rather large, flat tubercle at the base of the fourth toe; no tarsal fold. The tibio-tarsal articulation reaches the eye. Skin finely granular above; a moderately prominent, rather narrow glandular lateral fold; another told behind the tympanum down to the shoulder. ''Clinotarsus curtipes'' is greyish or brown above, with or without blackish dots; lateral fold lighter, edged with black; a blackish oblique spot or band below the eye; upper lip with a blackish margin; limbs dark purplish brown, without cross bands; light brown beneath, the throat sometimes dark brown. Male with an internal subgular

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way o ...

. The spot patterns on the backs are often distinctive enough to use for population estimation using capture and recapture techniques. Use of this technique in the Bisale Reserve Forest in

Kodagu Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

during January 1999 – July 2001 gave a population density estimate of 0.08–0.1 frogs per square metre. Adult frogs may occasionally

feign death Apparent death, colloquially known as playing dead, feigning death, or playing possum, is a behavior in which animals take on the appearance of being dead. It is an immobile state most often triggered by a predatory attack and can be found in a ...

to escape predators. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s are large (more than in total length) and form shoals in slow moving streams. They are collected for local consumption. File:RanaCurtipes1.jpg, Underside of a breeding male File:RanaCurtipes2.jpg, Upperside of a breeding male File:Rana_curtippes_shoal.jpg, Shoals of tadpoles in a stream File:Rana bicolor.JPG, A pair in

amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of mating behavior exhibited by some externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process, and at the same ...

File:Rana_curtipes.jpg File:Bicolored Frog or Malabar Frog.jpg, Malabar Frog

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2275896 Clinotarsus Frogs of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Amphibians described in 1854