''Minervarya pentali'', or Pental's Minervaryan frog, is a species of frog in the fork-tongued frog family, Dicroglossidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in India.

Etymology

The species is named ''pentali'' after

Deepak Pental Deepak Pental (born 1951) is a Professor of Genetics and the Ex Vice Chancellor at the University of Delhi. He is a noted researcher whose current research interests lie in development of transgenics and marker-assisted breeding of crops. He too ...

, plant geneticist and former vice-chancellor of Delhi University, in recognition of his assistance in setting up the Systematics Lab at the university. The generic name ''Minervarya'' is a portmanteau of the Latin word "''minimus''", which means "smallest", and ''

Fejervarya ''Fejervarya'' is a genera of frogs in the family Dicroglossidae found in Asia. First proposed in 1915 by István József Bolkay, a Hungarian naturalist, the genus did not see widespread adoption at first. As late as the 1990s it was generally i ...

'', which is ''Minervarya''‘s sister genus. The name also alludes to the Ancient Roman goddess

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

- the frogs' behaviour of suddenly jumping up seemingly from mud on the ground is reminiscent of the goddess, who burst suddenly out of her father Jupiter's head, fully clad in armour.

Description

''M. pentali'' is smaller than other ''Minervarya'' species, with males measuring 20 mm and females measuring 25 mm from

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

to vent. The skin is folded and granulated. The upper parts of the body are greyish-brown and have the texture of

shagreen Shagreen is a type of rawhide consisting of rough untanned skin, historically from a horse's or onager's back, or from shark or ray. Etymology The word derives from the French ''chagrin'' and is related to Italian ''zigrino'' and Venetian '' ...

, while the underparts are smooth and generally paler. The throat is flesh-coloured, and the calling patch is black. A yellow-grey line runs down the middle of the back. The males produce a pulsating call at regular intervals. The tongue is notched at the tip.

Behaviour

Call

Male ''M. pentali'' produce a pulsating call, which they repeat at regular intervals. Each call, which has 19 pulses on average, lasts for roughly one-fifths of a second. Calls are made from 6 PM to 10 PM.

Breeding

The breeding season is from July to September. During this season, males congregate in large numbers in grasses and around water bodies.

Distribution and habitat

''M. pentali'' is endemic to the southern Western Ghats, where it is widepsread and found from sea level up to an elevation of 220 m. Its range extends from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Kozhikode district Kozhikode (), or Calicut district, is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its Southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised. ...

in the north to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

's Kanyakumari district in the south. The frogs are found in vegetated wayside areas, plantations, irrigated fields and near natural water sources; they are not recorded from forested areas.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q107871835 Dicroglossidae Fauna of India Fauna of the Western Ghats Frogs of Asia Frogs of India Minervarya Endemic fauna of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats