''Pseudophilautus'' is a genus of shrub frogs 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 ...

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 ...

to the Western Ghats of southwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and to

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 ...

where the majority of the species are found. Many of them are already

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 ...

(marked with † in the species list). On the other, some species believed to be extinct have also been rediscovered. '' Pseudophilautus amboli'', one of the Indian species

Reproduction

Frogs in genus ''Pseudophilautus'' have

direct development Marine larval ecology is the study of the factors influencing dispersing larvae, which many marine invertebrates and fishes have. Marine animals with a larva typically release many larvae into the water column, where the larvae develop before metam ...

: eggs develop directly into froglets that resemble small adults. This strategy makes fully terrestrial reproduction possible. However, the eggs still require high humidity, and periods of dry weather may be detrimental. The majority of species where reproductive behaviour is known deposit eggs in soil on the forest floor and only one (''

Pseudophilautus femoralis ''Pseudophilautus femoralis'', commonly known as the round-snout pygmy frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by ...

'') on the leaves of understory shrubs. Males use advertisement calls to attract females, and tend to call more intensively during darkness and when humidity is high (e.g., during periods of rainfall). When a male has attracted a female to its vicinity, it approaches the female and enters the

amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of mating behavior exhibited by some externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process, and at the same ...

. In ground breeding species, the pair then ascends to the ground, changing colouration to match that of the leaf litter or soil, probably as

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

. Female locates a suitable spot and excavates a cavity where the eggs are laid. After

oviposition The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

, the female mixes the eggs with soil and the male dismounts and returns to a perch. Female also leaves the site after covering the nest; there is no parental care. In leaf nesting species, the overall sequence is similar, but the pair does not change the colour. Eggs are adhesive and deposited to underside of a leaf. The female attends the eggs for few hours after oviposition, apparently to ensure that the eggs are properly attached. Eggs are in diameter. Egg development takes 24–68 days. ''Pseudophilautus'' embryos lack external gills but they have a relatively large, vascularized tail. It is probable that embryos use their tail for

respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellula ...

. Depending on the species, froglets hatch with or without the tail fully absorbed but with the yolk sac still visible.

List of species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Pseudophilautus'', including eight species described in 2013 by Wickramasinghe and colleagues:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3016713 Rhacophoridae Amphibians of Asia Amphibian genera Taxa named by Raymond Laurent