First report of Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus (Das and Chanda, 1997) sacred grove bush frog from Chhattisgarh, India

Abstract

Sacred grove bush frog Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus (Das and Chanda, 1997) (formerly known as Philautus sanctisilvaticus) is essentially a forest dependent specialist having preference for mainly mature forest. The type locality of the species is Kapildhara falls (23 0 10 ´ N: 81 0 70 ´ E) in Amarkantak of Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh (Das and Chanda, 1997). Interestingly after discovery of the species, since then it has not been reported by the subsequent workers from this region. This species is listed as critically endangered due to very small area of occupancy (10km 2 ) and also due to decline in the extent and quality of its habitat (Das et al., 2004). The current sighting in Bastar district is remarkable because the present locality is c.f. 430 km from the earlier locale. With report of occurrence of the species from Bastar Plateau, this study makes first record of the critically endangered sacred grove bush frog Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus from Chhattisgarh, India.