''Minervarya syhadrensis'', commonly known as long-legged cricket frog, Syhadra frog, Bombay wart frog, and many others, 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 ...

in the family

Dicroglossidae The frog family Dicroglossidae occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa, with most genera and species being found in Asia. The common name of the family is fork-tongued frogs. The Dicroglossidae were previously considered to ...

found in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal at low to moderate elevations. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of genus ''

Minervarya ''Minervarya'' is a genus of frogs in the family Dicroglossidae from south Asia (Sri Lanka, the Indian subcontinent including Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh), and Nepal and Bhutan. They are also known as cricket frogs or rice frogs. Taxonomy Th ...

''. In view of its wide distribution and stable population trend,

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

assessors listed it as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

in 2009 and 2016.

Description

The long-legged cricket frog is a small-sized frog. Females reach a snout–vent length (SVL) of 20.7–22.8 mm. Males are smaller with a SVL of 17.5–19.1 mm.

Distribution and habitat

Long-legged cricket frogs are widely distributed over much of central northern India and western Peninsular India, Bangladesh, southern Nepal, from lower

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

in Pakistan, and found at elevations below . In Nepal's

Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is the ninth national park in Nepal and was established in 2002. It is located in the country's mid-hills on the northern fringe of the Kathmandu Valley and named after Shivapuri Peak of altitude. It covers an ar ...

, 13 specimen were observed in the summer of 2009 within a distance of from water bodies.Aryal, P.C., Pokhrel, G.K., Shah, K.B., Rijal, B., Kharel, S.C., Paudel, E., Suwal, M.K., Dhamala, M.K., Bhurtel, B.P. (2010) ''Inventory of Herpetofaunal Diversity in Nagarjun Forest of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park''. Companions for Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
download pdf
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Behaviour and ecology

During the breeding season, males emit advertisement calls, using a single subgular external

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 ...

. They start calling after one or two heavy pre-

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

or monsoon rains in April to June, and continue up to the end of the rainy season in September to October. They call mainly during the night beginning after dusk and continue until the early morning of the following day, preferably sitting in temporary shallow water pools under partly submerged grass or paddy. They call in chorus but maintain a distance of 0.5 to 1 m to each other. Their calls are antiphonal between the two nearest calling males and consist of a series of pulse groups varying per call between 7 and 28.

References

External links

Photo of ''Fejervarya syhadrensis'' by photographer Manoj C. Sindagi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minervarya syhadrensis syhadrensis Amphibians of Bangladesh Frogs of India Amphibians of Nepal Amphibians of Pakistan Frogs of Sri Lanka Amphibians described in 1919 Taxa named by Nelson Annandale