''Polypedates'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

s in the

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 ...

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 ...

, the shrub frogs and Paleotropic

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely relat ...

s. They belong to

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Rhacophorinae. Members of this genus are collectively known as whipping frogs. They occur in eastern and southern Asia. The delimitation of ''Polypedates'' versus the related ''

Rhacophorus ''Rhacophorus'' is a genus of frogs in the shrub frog family (Rhacophoridae) and the related Hylidae make up the true tree frogs. They are found in India, Japan, Madagascar, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Over 40 species are currently recognised. T ...

'' has been difficult. In former times, the present genus was often entirely included in ''Rhacophorus''. However,

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies support the recognition of both genera. ''Polypedates'' + ''

Taruga Taruga is an archeological site in Nigeria famous for the artifacts of the Nok culture that have been discovered there, some dating to 600 BC, and for evidence of very early iron working. The site is 60 km southeast of Abuja, in the Mid ...

'' are considered to be the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

of '' Feihyla'' + ''

''.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Polypedates'', with new species still being described on a regular basis: * '' Polypedates assamensis'' Mathew & Sen, 2009 * '' Polypedates bengalensis'' Purkayastha et al., 2019 * '' Polypedates braueri'' (Vogt, 1911) – White-lipped treefrog or Java treefrog * ''

Polypedates colletti ''Polypedates colletti'' (Collett's tree frog, Collett's treefrog, Collett's whipping frog or black-spotted tree frog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in the Malay Peninsula (Thailand and Malaysia), southern Vietnam ...

'' (Boulenger, 1890) – Collett's whipping frog, black-spotted tree frog, or Collett's tree frog * ''

Polypedates cruciger ''Polypedates cruciger'' (commonly known as the Sri Lanka whipping frog or common hour-glass tree-frog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae Endemism, endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests ...

'' Blyth, 1852 – Sri Lanka whipping frog or common hour-glass tree-frog * ''

Polypedates discantus ''Polypedates'' is a genus of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae, the shrub frogs and Paleotropic tree frogs. They belong to subfamily Rhacophorinae. Members of this genus are collectively known as whipping frogs. They occur in eastern and south ...

'' Rujirawan, Stuart, and Aowphol, 2013 – Malayan slender treefrog * '' Polypedates hecticus'' Peters, 1863 – Samara flying frog * '' Polypedates himalayensis'' (Annandale, 1912) – Himalayan tree frog * '' Polypedates impresus'' Yang, 2008 * '' Polypedates insularis'' Das, 2005 – Nicobarese tree frog * '' Polypedates iskandari'' Riyanto, Mumpuni & McGuire, 2011 * ''

Polypedates leucomystax ''Polypedates'' is a genus of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae, the shrub frogs and Paleotropic tree frogs. They belong to subfamily Rhacophorinae. Members of this genus are collectively known as whipping frogs. They occur in eastern and south ...

'' (Gravenhorst, 1829) – common tree frog, four-lined tree frog, striped tree frog, "

white-lipped tree frog The white-lipped tree frog (''Nyctimystes infrafrenatus'') is a species of frog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae. It is the world's largest tree frog (the Cuban tree frog reaches a similar maximum size) and is found in Australia. Other common nam ...

" (formerly often in ''P. maculatus'') * ''

Polypedates macrotis ''Polypedates macrotis'', commonly known as the dark-eared treefrog, sometimes also Bongao tree frog, Bongao bubble-nest frog, Baram whipping frog, or brown-striped tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in the c ...

'' (Boulenger, 1891) – Bongao tree frog * ''

Polypedates maculatus ''Polypedates maculatus'', the Indian tree frog, or Chunam tree frog, is a common species of tree frog found in South Asia. It was described by John Edward Gray in 1830. Although now considered as a separate species again, for a time, the Hima ...

'' (Gray, 1830) – common Indian tree frog, Chunam tree frog * '' Polypedates megacephalus'' Hallowell, 1861 – spot-legged tree frog, Hong Kong whipping frog, "

brown tree frog The southern brown tree frog (''Litoria ewingii''), also known as the brown tree frog, whistling tree frog, or Ewing's tree frog, is a species of tree frog native to Australia: most of southern Victoria, eastern South Australia, southern New S ...

" * '' Polypedates mutus'' (Smith, 1940) – northern treefrog * '' Polypedates occidentalis'' Das and Dutta, 2006 – western tree frog * '' Polypedates otilophus'' (Boulenger, 1893) – file-eared tree frog, Borneo eared frog * '' Polypedates pseudocruciger'' Das and Ravichandran, 1998 – false hour-glass tree frog or yellow tree frog * '' Polypedates pseudotilophus'' Matsui, Hamidy, and Kuraishi, 2014 * '' Polypedates ranwellai'' Wickramasingha, Munindradasa, and Fernando, 2012 – Ranwella's spined tree frog * '' Polypedates subansiriensis'' Mathew & Sen, 2009 – Subansiri's tree frog * '' Polypedates taeniatus'' (Boulenger, 1906) – Bengal whipping Frog, Bengal whipping tree frog, or Terai tree frog * '' Polypedates teraiensis'' (Dubois, 1987) – common tree frog, six-lined tree frog, Terai tree frog, or Perching frog * '' Polypedates zed'' (Dubois, 1987) – Nepalese tree frog or Narayanghat whipping frog The recently described ''Polypedates bijui''Zachariah, Dinesh, Kunhikrishnan, Das, Raju, Radhakrishnan, Palot & Kalesh, 2011 has now been renamed as '' Beddomixalus bijui'', the only species in its genus.

Phylogeny

The following phylogeny of ''Polypedates'' is from Pyron & Wiens (2011). 8 species are included. ''Polypedates'' is a

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

of '' Feihyla''. Together, ''Polypedates'' and ''Feihyla'' form a

to ''

''. Kuraishi, et al. (2013) gives the following phylogeny of ''Polypedates''.KURAISHI, N., MATSUI, M., HAMIDY, A., BELABUT, D. M., AHMAD, N., PANHA, S., SUDIN, A., YONG, H. S., JIANG, J.-P., OTA, H., THONG, H. T. and NISHIKAWA, K. (2013), Phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships of the Polypedates leucomystax complex (Amphibia). Zoologica Scripta, 42: 54–70. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00562.x ''Polypedates'' and ''

'' are estimated to have split off from their

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

26.6 million years ago during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

. Furthermore, the genus ''

'' has been separated as a separate genus endemic to Sri Lanka.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q945221 Rhacophoridae Amphibians of Asia Amphibian genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi