''Uperodon nagaoi'', also known as the Nagao's pug-snout frog or Nagao's globular frog, 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 ...

s in the family

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

and is known from the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Sabaragamuwa The Sabaragamuwa Province ( si, සබරගමුව පළාත ''Sabaragamuwa Paḷāta'', ta, சபரகமுவ மாகாணம் ''Sabaragamuwa Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrati ...

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

, and

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

s. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''nagaoi'' honours Eijiro Nagao, president of Marusan Securities who, through the Nagao Environmental Foundation, has supported research on Sri Lankan amphibians.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females 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 ...

. The head is wider than it is long. The snout is truncate in dorsal view and rounded in lateral view. The tympanum is not externally visible but a tympanic ridge is present. The fingers have lateral dermal fringes and triangularly dilated tips. The toes have rudimentary webbing and slightly truncate or rounded, enlarged, fleshy and smooth tips. The colouration is dark brown. There are yellow spots near the eyes and on the upper lip. Reddish-orange patches are present on the snout, sides of the dorsum, abdomen, and around the vent and on the limbs. Males have an externally visible

gular Gular is of or pertaining to the throat, and may more specifically refer to: * Gular scales in reptiles * Gular scute, or gular projection, in turtles and tortoises * Gular fold in lizards * Gular skin, or gular sac, in birds and some gibbons Ot ...

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way o ...

Habitat and conservation

''Uperodon nagaoi'' are terrestrial and arboreal as adults and prefer lowland moist forest habitats. There are records from about

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 ...

. Breeding takes place in tree holes where the

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s also develop. It appears to be an obligate tree hole breeder. One female was found submerged in a tree hole, with an egg clutch adhering to the wall few centimeters above the water level. This suggests that parental care might be present. ''Uperodon nagaoi'' is known to occur in the Kanneliya Forest Reserve (its type locality) as well as in the Hiyare Forest Reserve.

Behavior

The frog is noted to have a possibly mutualistic relationship with tarantulas such as '' Poecilotheria ornata'' and '' Poecilotheria subfusca'', sharing tree holes of which some were observed to contain eggs and/or juveniles from the spider, frog, or both. As observed between frog '' Chiasmocleis ventrimaculata'' and tarantula ''

Xenesthis immanis ''Xenesthis immanis'', the Colombian lesser black tarantula, is a terrestrial bird spider (tarantula) originating from Colombia. It is a relatively large spider with a body length reaching 6–7 cm and a length width reaching 19-22 cm. ...

'', the spider may protect the frog from predators while the frog protects the spider's eggs from ants.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28016745, from2=Q2244916 nagaoi Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Frogs of Sri Lanka Amphibians described in 2001 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Rohan Pethiyagoda