''Microhyla ornata'', commonly known as the ornate narrow-mouthed frog, ornate narrow-mouthed toad, or ornamented pygmy frog, is a species of microhylid

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

found in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

. This amphibian is distributed in Kashmir, Nepal, peninsular India and the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was previously considered to be the same species as ''

Microhyla fissipes ''Microhyla fissipes'' (commonly known as the ornate chorus frog) is a microhylid frog from East and Southeast Asia, from southern and central China and Taiwan to the Malay Peninsula. It was previously considered to be the same species as '' M ...

''; therefore, the aforementioned common names can refer to either species.

Description

Frogs of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Microhyla ''Microhyla'', commonly known as the rice frogs or narrow-mouthed frogs, is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It consists of 42 species of diminutive frogs. Members of this genus are widespread from Ryukyu Is. in Japan, and throughout ...

'' are small. They can be identified by the typical arrow-shaped mark on their

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

side. They are generally of yellowish color with dark brown patch. This species has a small head, no teeth and no discernible

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

. The fingertips are spathulate and there is little webbing between the digits. The males do not have

nuptial pad A nuptial pad (also known as thumb pad, or nuptial excrescence) is a secondary sex characteristic present on some mature male frogs and salamanders. Triggered by androgen hormones, this breeding gland (a type of mucous gland) appears as a spiked ...

s. The skin on the back is mainly smooth, but there are some granulations. Males are about from snout to vent and females about .

Distribution and habitat

The ornate narrow-mouthed frog is native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is found in

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

and

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s ranging from

tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and

tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. These forests are found predominantly in North and Central America and experience low levels of precipitation and moderate va ...

. In some habitats, this frog may take shelter in the dung of

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

Biology

The ornate narrow-mouthed frog lives semi-buried in leaf litter on the forest floor. It is mainly nocturnal but it is also active during the day during the rainy season. It breeds in ponds and temporary pools that form in the rainy season.

Status

This frog has a wide range and the population seems to be stable so the IUCN rates it as being of "

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 ...

" as it considers that the rate of decline, if any, is insufficient to justify listing it in a more threatened category. It is common throughout most of its range and is tolerant of a range of different habitat types. No particular threats to this species have been identified.

References

External links

Species account
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715667 ornata Amphibians described in 1841 Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Amphibians of Bangladesh Frogs of India Amphibians of Nepal Amphibians of Pakistan Frogs of Sri Lanka Fauna of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands