''Gracixalus seesom'', also known as the orange bush frog or orange bushfrog, is a species of frog in the family

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly ...

. It is

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 northwestern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and is known from the Kanchanaburi and

Chiang Mai Province Chiang Mai ( th, เชียงใหม่, ; nod, , ) is the largest Province (''changwat'') of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It is bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lam ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''seesom'' is derived from

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

words ''see'' and ''som'' for "orangish" and "color", respectively, and alludes to the coloration of the ventral surfaces of the limbs of this frog.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

. The body is dorsoventrally compressed. The head is wider than it is long and slightly wider than the body. The snout is pointed in dorsal view and rounded laterally. The eyes are large. The tympanum is distinct and nearly circular;supratympanic fold is present. Both toes and fingers bear expanded discs with circummarginal grooves; the fingers have traces of webbing while the toes are webbed. Skin is dorsally nearly smooth, with only sparsely scattered minute, blunt tubercles between the shoulder and sacral regions. The dorsum is tan with small, dark brown spots forming an interrupted X-like marking. A faint lighter line runs from the snout through the upper eyelid to the supratympanic fold and continues posteriorly, separating the tan dorsum and the darker flank. The flanks have large white blotches. Bright orange coloration is found on the underside of the forelimb, posterior to insertion of arm, and underside of hindlimb, continuing to anterior and posterior surfaces of thigh to tarsus, dorsal surface of inner four toes, and groin. The iris is golden with a web of fine black reticulations concentrated around periphery.

Habitat

''Gracixalus seesom'' is known from elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. At the type locality, specimens were found at night perching on twigs of short shrubs along a dried stream. Despite surveys during all seasons, ''G. seesom'' were only encountered in early January, a period with little rain and low temperatures.

Conservation

As of November 2021, this species has not been included in the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. The known specimens have been collected in nationals parks: the type locality is in the

Thong Pha Phum National Park Thong Pha Phum National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติทองผาภูมิ) is a national park in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The park, located on the border with Myanmar, is part of the Western Forest Complex p ...

, and the other known population occurs in the

Doi Inthanon National Park Doi Inthanon National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยอินทนนท์), nicknamed "the roof of Thailand", is in the Thanon Thong Chai Range, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand. It i ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20722343 seesom Amphibians of Thailand Endemic fauna of Thailand Amphibians described in 2015