Raorchestes lechiya
Raorchestes lechiya, or Lechiyappan's bush frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to India. Scientists know it exclusively from the type locality: 2023 meters above sea level in Silent Valley National Park.[1][2]
| Raorchestes lechiya | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Rhacophoridae |
| Genus: | Raorchestes |
| Species: | R. lechiya |
| Binomial name | |
| Raorchestes lechiya Zachariah, Cyriac, Chandramohan, Ansil, Mathew, Raju, and Abraham, 2016 | |
Scientists found one adult male frog that was about 19.8 mm long from nose to rear end. The skin of the dorsum was pale brown in color and it had many small spicules. There were whitish spots near its legs. The skin of the frog's venter was pink-white in color. The iris of the eye was the color of copper on the uppermost third and dark brown on the lower two thirds.[3]
The frog is named for Mr. Lechiyappan of the Mudugar tribe. He worked as a forest tracker at Silent Valley National Park and it in fact became a national park through his efforts.[3]
References
- Frost, Darrel R. "Raorchestes lechiya Zachariah, Cyriac, Chandramohan, Ansil, Mathew, Raju, and Abraham, 2016". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- "Raorchestes lechiya Zachariah, Cyriac, Chandramohan, Ansil, Mathew, Raju, and Abraham, 2016". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
- Zachariah A; Cyriac VP; Chandramohan B; Ansil BR; Mathew JK; Raiu DV; Abraham RK (2016). "Two new species of Raorchestes (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from the Silent Valley National Park in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats, India". Salamandra (Full text). 52 (2): 63–76. Retrieved September 14, 2023.