''Rhacophorus turpes'' (common names: Htingnan flying frog, Htingnan whipping treefrog) 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 ...

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 is

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 northern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Little is known about this species that is only known from the original collection in 1937–1939 by

Ronald Kaulback Ronald John Henry Kaulback (23 July 1909 – 2 October 1995) was a British explorer, botanist and geographer. He was the son of Colonel H. A. Kaulback and had a younger brother Roy (known as Bill). After studying at the University of Cambridge and ...

. The type locality, "Htingnan", is in

Kachin State Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet and Yunnan, specifically and respectively); Sh ...

, with an approximate altitude of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

Habitat

''Rhacophorus turpes'' is probably an arboreal forest dweller.

Description

The syntypes, a male and a female, measured and in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

, respectively. They are pale pinkish-brownish above, with black spots (in the male) or an indistinct darker path (the female). Skin is smooth above but strongly granulate upon the belly and the anal region. Fingers are half-webbed whereas the toes are fully webbed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2705436 turpes Amphibians of Myanmar Endemic fauna of Myanmar Amphibians described in 1940 Taxa named by Malcolm Arthur Smith Taxonomy articles created by Polbot