''Nannophrys marmorata'', commonly known as Kirtisinghe's rock frog or marbled streamlined frog, 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It used to be placed in the large frog

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Ranidae but a phylogenetic study was undertaken using DNA sequences and it is now included in the family Dicroglossidae. Its natural

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 are tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s and streams. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

Kirtisinghe's rock frog is a small animal with a broad, short head and rounded snout. The eardrums, visible just behind the prominent eyes, are about half the size of the eyes. The body is stout and the legs are moderately short. The dorsal surface is brown blotched with darker streaks and the ventral surface is pale grey. The legs are transversely banded in dark brown. Kirtisinghe's rock frog grows to a length of about .

Distribution and habitat

Kirtisinghe's rock frog is endemic to central Sri Lanka where it is found only in the Knuckles Mountain Range at heights between above sea level. It is a semi-aquatic species and is found in and beside fast flowing mountain streams in forested areas, under boulders, in rock crevices and on wet rocks. The tadpoles are also found on rocks in the splash zone near the torrent.

Status

Kirtisinghe's rock frog seems to be declining in numbers and it is listed as " Critically endangered" 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 ...

. This is because it occurs as several separate populations in a total area of only and its habitat is being lost because of livestock grazing and tourism, and the streams in which it lives may be being polluted by

agrochemical An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical refers to biocides ( pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides) an ...

s from

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

and

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are rec ...

plantations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2243460 Nannophrys Frogs of Sri Lanka Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1946