Abstract
Species diversity of South Asian burrowing frogs within the genus Sphaerotheca is still obscure because of lack of taxonomic review. There are taxonomic issues within the genus Sphaerotheca with several names being synonymized to S. breviceps and names, such as S. pluvialis, being available without proper diagnosis. To resolve the taxonomic confusion, we describe and diagnose S. pluvialis by designating a neotype from Carnatic region of southern India, from where the original species was described, and make S. fodiens as its objective synonym. We designate lectotype of S. breviceps and provide diagnosis for separating the species from its congeners. We clarify the identity of S. dobsonii and resurrect S. swani and S. maskeyi. Based on morphology we define three groups within genus Sphaerotheca and provide key to the groups and eight valid species in the genus. We assign genetic barcodes to S. pluvialis, S. dobsonii and S. breviceps.
Highlights
South Asian burrowing frogs have a long taxonomic history. Schneider (1799) described Rana breviceps from eastern India, followed by Gravenhorst (1829) who described Rana variegata, without providing the type locality. Tschudi (1838) transferred Rana breviceps to genus Systoma
He acknowledged that the two species are very similar and preferred to call them different just based on the different vernacular names used by the natives
It is essential to note that the neotype is collected from within the Carnatic region, the type locality of both the species, which is the part of southern India that includes Tamil Nadu, south-eastern Karnataka, northeastern Kerala and southern Andhra Pradesh in modern India
Summary
South Asian burrowing frogs have a long taxonomic history. Schneider (1799) described Rana breviceps from eastern India, followed by Gravenhorst (1829) who described Rana variegata, without providing the type locality. Tschudi (1838) transferred Rana breviceps to genus Systoma. Günther (1864) provided the first revision of South Asian burrowing frogs and placed the species under Genus Pyxicephalus He considered two valid species, namely Pyxicephalus breviceps and P. rufescens, with Sphaerotheca striaga, P. fodiens and P. pluvialis as synonyms of P. breviceps. (S.) rolandae while he considered other species, namely Rana dobsonii, Pyxicephalus fodiens, Rana leucorhynchus, Pyxicephalus pluvialis, Tomoptema strachani, Sphaerotheca strigata, Rana swani and Rana variegata, as ‘incertae sedis et synonymes’ without providing any rationale for doing so. He transferred Rana (Tomopterna) rufescens under Limnonectes (Fejervarya). Schleich & Anders (1998) described Tomopterna maskeyi from Nepal. Marmayou et al (2000) and Vences et al (2000) provided genetic support to raise the subgenus Sphaerotheca to genus level. Vences et al (2000) considered seven species from South Asia valid under Sphaerotheca, namely S. breviceps, S. dobsonii, S. leucorhynchus, S. maskeyi, S. rolandae, S. strachani and S. swani
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