A new species of pond frog Phrynoderma (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the coastal plains of Maharashtra, Western India

Abstract

The earlier glorified concept of the Dicroglossid frog genus, Euphlyctis sensu lato, is at present recognized as comprising the skittering frog genus Euphlyctis Fitzinger sensu stricto and the pond frog genus Phrynoderma Fitzinger based on their morphological color patterns, behavior, and phylogenetic position. Wherein the pond frog genus Phrynoderma is known for its genetic representation from peninsular India and Bangladesh, with four described species. Although Phrynoderma is a historically available name, its recognition as a genus is very recent, compared to the sister genus Euphlyctis (skittering frogs), members of pond frogs prefer freshwater bodies of low elevation coastal plains with a few exceptions. Herein, we describe a fifth species of pond frog, Phrynoderma konkani sp. nov. from the Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, western India, wherein the western coastal plains represent the highest species diversity in the entire range of distribution of the genus. The new species is distinct from its congeners by a set of morphological characteristics, including body size, head width, dermal projections on ventral side, and dorsum patterns. Genetic studies based on the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and nuclear Tyrosinase gene suggest the novelty from the congeneric species. As the divergence of small sized Phrynoderma is recent (3.8 to 2.1 mya), the discovery of new species highlights the need of assigning the recent diverging lineages to the species status from a conservation perspective in the backdrop of rapid urbanization and climate change scenarios, wherein distribution ranges for most of the amphibians are shrinking.