''Theloderma phrynoderma'' is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to

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 ...

and known from two widely separated localities: Thao, its type locality in the Karen Hills in south-central Myanmar where it was collected by

Leonardo Fea Leonardo Fea (Turin 24 July 1852 – Turin 27 April 1903) was an Italian explorer, zoologist, painter, and naturalist. Biography Fea was born in Turin, a son of Paolo Fea, who was professor of painting at Accademia Albertina, and Anna Roda. In ...

in 1888, and the

Tanintharyi Nature Reserve Tanintharyi Nature Reserve is a strict nature reserve in Myanmar's Tenasserim Hills, covering . In elevation, it ranges from at an elevation of . Most of the tropical rain forest is evergreen, interspersed with some grassland. The reserve provides ...

in southern Myanmar near the Thai border where it was collected in 2009–2010. The common names Burmese bug-eyed frog, Burmese warted tree frog, and Tenasserim warty tree frog have been coined for it.

Description

The holotype, an adult female, measures 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 ...

, whereas three adult males all measure about . The head is flat and triangular, shorter than it is wide. The tympanum is distinct and round. The fingers are long, with tips expanded into discs, and partially webbed (basal webbing between fingers I–II, increasing to nearly half-webbed between fingers III–IV). The toes are fully webbed and have discs that are slightly smaller than the finger discs. Dorsal skin is covered with calcified, white-tipped asperities, forming cluster especially near the tympana and along the dorsolateral region. Skin is cream colored and has brown blotches in the mid- dorsum. There is a dark brown bar between the eyes and a dark brown chevron between the shoulders. The flanks have cream-brown marbled pattern continuing onto the dorsum.

Habitat and conservation

''Theloderma phrynoderma'' occurs in both lowland and montane wet evergreen forest as well as evergreen mixed deciduous and bamboo forest at elevations 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 ...

. Reproductive behaviour is unknown, but presumably this species deposits its eggs in small bodies of standing water, such as water-filled tree holes or rock depressions. This species is known from few specimens, but it is not clear whether it is genuinely rare or simply difficult to detect. In general, its distribution area suffers from ongoing

forest loss Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. The recently collected specimens are from a protected area (Tanintharyi Nature Reserve).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2704052 phrynoderma Frogs of Asia Amphibians of Myanmar Endemic fauna of Myanmar Amphibians described in 1927 Taxa named by Ernst Ahl Taxonomy articles created by Polbot