The Malabar tree toad (''Pedostibes tuberculosus''), or warty Asian tree toad, is a species of

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...

found in forests along the Western Ghats of great

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in South India, southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bou ...

. It is a small species and is found in wet tree hollows or leaf bases containing water. It is the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Pedostibes'', also known as Asian tree toads.

Taxonomy

Formerly, the genus ''Pedostibes'' also hosted other Southeast Asian species that were subsequently moved to a new genus, ''

Rentapia ''Rentapia'' is a genus of true toads, family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Southeast Asia and occurs in the Malay Peninsula (including extreme southern peninsular Thailand), Borneo, and Sumatra. It was erected in 2016 resolve the polyphyly of ''Pe ...

'', in 2016.

Description

This is a slender frog with a moderate-sized head. The

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 ...

is pointed and the lores are vertical. The distance between the eyes is as wide as the upper eyelid width. The ear opening (tympanum) is well marked and is about a third of the diameter of the eye. The fingers are moderate, depressed, and webbed at the base. The first finger is half the length of the second. The toes are almost entirely webbed and the tips of both fingers and toes are dilated into broad, truncated disks being smaller on the toes. The tubercle near the joint is small, with two small, flat metatarsal tubercles. There is no tarsal fold. When the hind limb is held straight beside the body, the metatarsal tubercles reach to between the eye and tip of the snout. Skin of upper parts is rough (tubercular), the largest tubercles being arranged along each side of the back. In color, it is brownish-grey above, with the sides darker; a white band runs from below the eye to the axil; another white, longitudinal band is in the lumbar region; the beneath is dark-spotted. The male has a subgular vocal sac. Females are larger than males. Adults of this toad grow to 3.6-3.85 cm in length. The call is described as a "shirrrr shirr shirr shirr", with a dominant frequency of 3780 Hz, each call lasting 3 to 7 sec with three to 10 pulses. Its length from snout to vent is 1.4 in.

Habitat

This species is known to live in tree habitats, but adults are found among leaf litter, climbing into trees at night. They are found in the forest of the Western Ghats at elevations of 250 m to over 1000 m, often beside streams.Daniels, R.J. 2005. Amphibians of Peninsular India. City:Hyderabad. 116-117p. Image:PedostibesTuberculosus3.jpg Image:PedostibesTuberculosus1.jpg Image:PedostibesTuberculosus5.jpg

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2715878, from2=Q2355367 Frogs of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Pedostibes Amphibians described in 1876 Amphibians of Asia Taxa named by Albert Günther