''Pseudophilautus zal'', commonly known as the white blotched shrub frog, is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

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 ...

in the family

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly ...

. It was

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 is only known from the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

consisting of three old museum specimens.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''zal'' is a Polish word that, according to

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, refers to "sadness, nostalgia, regret, burning hurt, and yet something else". This name was chosen by the authors of the species to express their "sadness and frustration at the loss of this and so many other endemic amphibians in Sri Lanka".

Description

The type series consists of three adult males measuring in snout–vent length. The body is stout. The snout is bluntly angled dorsally and rounded in profile. The tympanum is visible and the supratympanic fold is prominent. The canthal edges are sharp. Skin is shagreened to granular. The fingers have dermal fringes whereas the toes are medially webbed. The upper parts of the alcohol-preserved specimens are light brown with dark-brown blotches and about five white spots. The underside is pale yellow. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was originally identified as ''Ixalus minutus'', an unpublished name. One of the

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Of ...

s is a former

syntype In biological nomenclature, a syntype is any one of two or more biological types that is listed in a description of a taxon where no holotype was designated. Precise definitions of this and related terms for types have been established as part of ...

of '' Pseudophilautus variabilis'', and the other was a syntype of ''

Pseudophilautus microtympanum ''Pseudophilautus microtympanum'', also known as Gunther's bubble-nest frog or small-eared shrub frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is Endemism, endemic to the central hills of Sri Lanka. Its natural habitat are both close ...

''.

Distribution and conservation

The types are only known to have been collected from "Ceylon", a rather general location. All were identified as different species, suggesting that ''Pseudophilautus zal'' might have had a wide distribution. No other specimens are known, despite extensive field surveys in more recent times. The habitat requirements of this species are unknown. The reasons for its demise are also unknown, but probably involved

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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28003344 zal Amphibian extinctions since 1500 Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Frogs of Sri Lanka Taxa named by Rohan Pethiyagoda Amphibians described in 2005 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot