''Hoplobatrachus crassus'', also called Jerdon's bullfrog, Jerdon's bull frog, and South Indian bullfrog, 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 ...

found widely distributed on the plains 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 ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Its range may extend to the adjacent Bhutan and Myanmar.

Description

This species has a shovel shaped metatarsal tubercle and has longer hind legs than the somewhat similar ''H. tigrinus'' with which it overlaps in part of its range. When the leg is stretched along the body the tibio-tarsal (ankle) joint lies at a position between the ear and eye. Females are slightly larger than males (about 8–10 cm or more while males are about 5–8 cm).

Habitat and ecology

''Hoplobatrachus crassus'' is a terrestrial frog that lives in seasonally flooded dry grasslands, open plains and arid areas, also in cultivated areas and near human settlements. Adult frogs are often found in burrows. They may

aestivate Aestivation ( la, aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a ...

during dry periods. Breeding takes place in water. Males have two vocal sacs on the side and the call sounds somewhat like a bleating goat. The calls last for a few minutes and consist of 2 to 4 series of 13-18 bleating pulses. They breed with the onset of the rains. The species is able to tolerate salinity to some extent. They tolerate 25% natural sea-water (25 parts of sea-water diluted with 75 parts of distilled water) but do not live for more than a week when the salinity goes up to the strength of 35% natural sea-water (sea water itself being about 32 parts per thousand). Their

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 thought to feed on algae. A

ciliate The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagellum, eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a ...

in the genus ''Cepedea'' has been recorded living in tadpoles of this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2709644

crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...

Amphibians of Bangladesh Frogs of India Amphibians of Nepal Frogs of Sri Lanka Amphibians described in 1853 Taxa named by Thomas C. Jerdon