Pseudophilautus zorro, the Gannoruwa shrub frog,[2] is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to central Sri Lanka.[3] People have seen it near Kandy and in the Knuckles Forest Reserve, 500-800 meters above sea level.[4]

Pseudophilautus zorro
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Genus: Pseudophilautus
Species:
P. zorro
Binomial name
Pseudophilautus zorro
(Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2005)
Synonyms

Philautus zorro Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2005

Its natural habitat is closed-canopy rainforest, but it can also occur in residential gardens with plenty of leaf-litter. It is threatened by habitat loss.[1] Conde et al. have estimated that protecting habitat of this species would cost of order US$200,000.[5]

The adult male frog is 19-23 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 22-30 mm. The skin of the frog's back is brown in color, and its belly has dark brown color on it. The frogs in this species can look different from each other. They can be light brown, pale, green, or yellow. Scientists say this is to make the frog harder to see.[4]

There are fewer of this frog than there were in the past. Scientists think this is because human beings build things in places where the frog lives and because of chemicals meant to kill pests and meant to make plants grow.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Pseudophilautus zorro". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T58940A156586313. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T58940A156586313.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ "27 new Pseudophilautus (firstly: Philautus) • Sri Lankan Shrub Frogs (Rhacophorinae)". Novataxa. July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  3. ^ Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Pseudophilautus zorro (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2005)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Peter Janzen (October 6, 2005). DL; Michelle S. Koo (eds.). "Pseudophilautus zorro (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2005)". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Conde, D. A.; Colchero, F.; Güneralp, B.; Gusset, M.; Skolnik, B.; Parr, M.; Byers, O.; Johnson, K.; Young, G.; Flesness, N.; Possingham, H.; Fa, J. E. (2015). "Opportunities and costs for preventing vertebrate extinctions". Current Biology. 25 (6): R219–R221. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.048. PMID 25784036.