''Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis'' is a common dicroglossid frog found in South Asia. It is known under numerous

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s, including Indian skipper frog or skittering frog. They are often seen at the edge of bodies of water with their eyes above the water. They noisily move away from the shore when disturbed, giving them their common name. They are rarely seen outside water. Euphlyctis cyanophlyctus sal

Description

Description from

George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...

is: «

Vomer The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxill ...

ine teeth in two small oblique series extending a little beyond the hinder edge of the choanae. Head moderate; snout scarcely pointed; canthus rostralis indistinct; interorbital space much narrower than the upper eyelid; tympanum distinct, about two-thirds the size of the eye. Fingers slender, pointed, first not extending beyond second; toes webbed to the tips, which are pointed, fourth not much longer than third or fifth; outer toe strongly fringed; subarticular tubercles small; inner metatarsal tubercle small, conical, much like a rudimentary toe. The tibiotarsal articulation usually reaches a little beyond the eye. Skin with small tubercles and units above, and with more or less distinct rows of pores. Brown or olive above, dark spotted or marbled; two blackish streaks on the hinder side of the thighs, seldom absent; beneath often speckled with blackish. Male with two external vocal vesicles, opening by two slits beneath the angles of the mouth.» They have the ability to leap out of the water from a floating position. Cross section of the phalanx bones shows annual growth rings which may be used for determining age.

Distribution

The species is widely distributed in South Asia and Southeast Asia, from southeastern Iran, southern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and eastern India at low to moderate elevations east through Bangladesh and northeastern India to extreme western

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 ...

. In addition, records exist from

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 ...

(likely '' Eyphlyctis mudigere''), Thailand (possibly introduced), and Vietnam. It has recently been reported also from Bhutan. Records for Bangladesh have recently been reassigned to ''

Euphlyctis kalasgramensis ''Euphlyctis'' is a genus of frogs in family Dicroglossidae distributed from the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan and Afghanistan to India, Nepal, through Myanmar and Thailand to Malaya, and Sri Lanka. None of the four species assessed by ...

''. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) does not include any areas east from India and Bangladesh in the distribution area.

Taxonomy

This widespread species may contain

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. As currently defined, ''E. cyanophlyctis'' includes several species as

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. These

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are sometimes distinguished: * ''E. c. cyanophlyctis'' – common skittering frog * ''E. c. seistanica'' – Seistan skittering frog * ''E. c. microspinulata'' – spiny skittering frog

Habitat

This frog is a very aquatic species found in marshes, pools and various other wetlands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q633639 Euphlyctis Amphibians of Afghanistan Amphibians of Bangladesh Amphibians of Bhutan Amphibians of Myanmar Amphibians of Nepal Frogs of India Amphibians of Iran Amphibians of Pakistan Frogs of Sri Lanka Amphibians of Thailand Amphibians of Vietnam Amphibians described in 1799 Taxa named by Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider