Sphaerotheca breviceps (Schneider, 1799)
Rana breviceps Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph. Nat.: 140. Syntypes: Including ZMB 3351 (2 specimens), according to Peters, 1863, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1863: 76. Type locality: "Indes orientales"; "probablement de Tranquebar (Tamil Nadu; 11° 02′ N, 79° 51′ E)" according to Dubois, 1983, Alytes, 2: 164. Synonymy with Rana gibossa Linnaeus, 1758, by Daudin, 1803 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Gen. Part. Rept., 8: 158; Gravenhorst, 1807, Vergleich. Uebersicht Linn. Neuern Zool. Syst.: 436; Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 53.
Rana variegata Gravenhorst, 1829, Delic. Mus. Zool. Vratislav., 1: 33. Types: Stated to be in the "museo Lampeano", animal figured on pl. 8, fig. 1; current status not known. Type locality: not stated. Synonymy by Boulenger, 1890, Fauna Brit. India, Rept. Batr.: 451; Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 103. Preoccupied by Rana variegata Linnaeus, 1758 (= Bombina variegata).
Systoma breviceps — Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 86.
Pyxicephalus fodiens Jerdon, 1854 "1853", J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 22: 534. Types: Not stated, but presumably ZSIC; reported as lost by Jerdon, 1870, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1870: 67. Type locality: "Carnatic [South India] . . . . also Ceylon". Synonymy by Anderson, 1871, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1871: 200. Provisional synonymy by Dubois, 1983, Alytes, 2: 164. Regarded as a synonym of one of the species or incertae sedis within Sphaerotheca by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 57.
Pyxicephalus pluvialis Jerdon, 1854 "1853", J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 22: 534. Types: Not stated, but presumably ZSIC; reported as lost by Jerdon, 1870, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1870: 67. Type locality: "Carnatic", South India. Synonymy by Günther, 1864, Rept. Brit. India: 411; Jerdon, 1870, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1870: 85; Boulenger, 1890, Fauna Brit. India, Rept. Batr.: 451; Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 103. Provisional synonymy by Dubois, 1983, Alytes, 2: 164. Regarded as a synonym of one of the species or incertae sedis within Sphaerotheca by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 57.
Sphaerotheca strigata Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 20. Syntypes: BMNH 1947.2.28.55-62; BMNH 1947.2.28.55 designated lectotype by Dubois, 1983, Alytes, 2: 165. Type locality: "Madras", Tamil Nadu, India. Synonymy by Günther, 1864, Rept. Brit. India: 411. Regarded as a synonym of one of the species or incertae sedis within Sphaerotheca by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 57.
Pyxicephalus (Tomopterna) fodiens — Peters, 1860, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1860: 186. Placed in synonymy of Rana tigerina (sensu lato) by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 26, possibly implying that Peters' use of the name may have been based on misidentified material.
Tomopterna strigata — Günther, 1860, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1860: 165.
Pyxicephalus breviceps — Günther, 1864, Rept. Brit. India: 411.
Rana (Tomopterna) breviceps — Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 102. Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233; by implication.
Tomopterna breviceps — Deckert, 1938, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1938: 142.
Rana swani Myers and Leviton In Leviton, Myers, and Swan, 1956, Occas. Pap. Nat. Hist. Mus. Stanford Univ., 1: 7. Holotype: CAS-SU 15371, by original designation. Type locality: "Dharan, eastern Nepal, at an altitude of 1000 feet". Synonymy by Dubois, 2004, Alytes, 21: 178. See comment.
Tomopterna swani — Dubois, 1976, Cah. Nepal., Doc., 6: 12.
Rana (Tomopterna) swani — Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233. by implication; Dubois, 1983, Alytes, 2: 165.
Rana (Tomopterna) breviceps breviceps — Dubois, 1983, Alytes, 2: 166.
Tomopterna (Sphaerotheca) breviceps — Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 57.
Tomopterna (Sphaerotheca) swani — Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 57.
Tomopterna maskeyi Schleich and Anders, 1998, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Contr. Herpetol. S. Asia Nepal India, 4: 57. Holotype: ZSM 106/91-2, by original designation. Type locality: "Chitwan Jungle Lodge, Royal Chitwan National Park, Central Nepal, at an altitude of approx. 300 m". Synonymy by Dubois, 2004, Alytes, 21: 178. See comment.
Sphaerotheca breviceps — Dubois, 1999, J. South Asian Nat. Hist., 4: 8. Vences, Glaw, Kosuch, Das, and Veith, 2000, Lourenço and Goodman (eds.), Diversité et Endéémisme à Madagascar: 232.
Sphaerotheca pluvialis — Marmayou, Dubois, Ohler, Pasquet, and Tillier, 2000, C. R. Acad. Sci., Ser. 3 Paris, 323: 293. Resurrection without discussion.
Sphaerotheca swani — Vences, Glaw, Kosuch, Das, and Veith, 2000, Lourenço and Goodman (eds.), Diversité et Endéémisme à Madagascar: 232.
Sphaerotheca maskeyi — Vences, Glaw, Kosuch, Das, and Veith, 2000, Lourenço and Goodman (eds.), Diversité et Endéémisme à Madagascar: 232.
English Names
Indian Burrowing Frog (Minton, 1966, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 134: 58; Schleich, Anders, and Kästle, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 80; Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 241; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 35).
Burrowing Frog (Khan, 1979, Biologia, Lahore, 25: 42; Khan, 2002, Bull. Chicago Herpetol. Soc., 37: 161).
Punjab Bullfrog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 110).
Short-headed Burrowing Frog (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 66; Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 241).
Clumsy-looking Burrowing Frog (Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 212).
Burrowing Frog (Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 88).
Olive Frog (Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 88).
Dharan Bullfrog (Rana swani [no longer recognized]; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 110).
Maskey's Burrowing Frog (Sphaerotheca maskeyi [no longer recognized]:Schleich, Anders, and Kästle, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 80).
Chitwan Frog (Sphaerotheca maskeyi [no longer recognized]: Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 89).
Band Sand Frog (Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 244; De Silva, 2009, Amph. Rep. Sri Lanka Photograph. Guide: 75).
Distribution
Pakistan (Punjab and Sind), and Gangetic Plain to southern India and Nepal (below 3000 m), east to West Bengal, India; arid Sri Lanka; central Myanmar; presumably to be found in Bangladesh and northeastern India; possibly in Maldives (see comment).
Comment
See comment under Sphaerotheca dobsonii. See accounts by Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 103, Minton, 1966, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 134: 58; and Dutta and Manamendra-Arachchi, 1996, Amph. Fauna Sri Lanka: 129-107. Biju, 2001, Occas. Publ. Indian Soc. Conserv. Biol., 1: 17, suggested that revision of this nominal species is needed. Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 142-143, 212-213, provided a brief account (as Tomopterna breviceps), as did Ray, 1999, Mem. Zool. Surv. India, 18: 50-54. Anders, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 301-306, provided a key and accounts for the species in Nepal. See brief account (as Tomopterna breviceps) by Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 88-89. Sarkar, Biswas, and Ray, 1992, State Fauna Ser., 3: 88-89, provided a brief account for West Bengal, India. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 57, regarded Rana swani as incertae sedis within Sphaerotheca or a synonym of one of the other species. Nevertheless, Anders, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 313-315, provided for Sphaerotheca swani an account, figure, and map for the Nepal population. Dubois, 2004, Alytes, 21: 176, noted that Sphaerotheca breviceps, Sphaerotheca maskeyi, and Sphaerotheca swani were junior synonyms of this species, which he asserted shows strikeing color pattern polymorphism and should be called Sphaerotheca pluvialis, without further explanation. Anders, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 307-310, provided as Sphaerotheca maskeyi an account, figure, and map for the Nepal population (as Sph. See brief account (as Tomopterna maskeyi) by Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 89-90. Dubois, 1999, J. South Asian Nat. Hist., 4: 8, suggested that Sphaerotheca breviceps is a small-sized species, closely related to, or conspecific with Sphaerotheca rolandae. For the large-sized species of South Asia, he suggested that the names Rana variegata Gravenhorst, 1829; Pyxicephalus fodiens Jerdon, 1853; Pyxicephalus pluvialis Jerdon, 1853; Sphaerotheca strigata Gunther, 1859; Rana dobsonii Boulenger, 1882; Tomopterna strachani Murray, 1884; Rana leuchorhynchus Rao, 1937; and Rana swani Myers and Leviton, 1956, are available. He also regarded Tomopterna maskeyi to be a provisional synonym of this large-size taxon, although none of the evidence to support this conclusion were presented in this publication. Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 166-168, provided a range, systematic comments, and partial taxonomic bibliography. Khan, 2006, Amph. Rept. Pakistan: 66-67, provided an account for Pakistan. Glaw and Rosado, 2006, Herpetol. Rev., 37: 502, discussed the possibility of occurrence of this species in Maldives. Daniels, 2005, Amph. Peninsular India: 241-244, provided an account. Mehta, 2005, in Alfred (ed.), Fauna W. Himalaya, Part 2: 270, reported the species in Himanchal Pradesh, India, without noting specific localities. De Silva, 2009, Amph. Rep. Sri Lanka Photograph. Guide: 75, provided a brief account and color photograph for Sri Lanka. See Shah and Tiwari, 2004, Herpetofauna Nepal: 73, for brief account. See Shah and Tiwari, 2004, Herpetofauna Nepal: 73 (as Sphaerotheca breviceps), 74 (as Sphaerotheca maskeyi), and 76 (as Sphaerotheca swani), for brief accounts.
External Links
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