Leith's leaping frog, Leith's frog, Boulenger's brown frog, Matheran leaping frog, Matheran indian frog
Indirana leithii (Leith's leaping frog, Leith's frog, Boulenger's brown frog, Matheran leaping frog, or Matheran Indian frog) is a species of frog in the family Ranixalidae. It is endemic to the northern Western Ghats of India. As currently defined, its range is restricted to the states of Maharashtra and southern Gujarat; earlier records elsewhere refer to other species.
The specific name leithii honours Andrew Henderson Leith, a physician who worked as Sanitary Commissioner in Bombay.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Jumping (saltation) can be distinguished from running, galloping, and other gaits where the entire body is temporarily airborne by the relatively l...
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starts withAdult males measure 19–29 mm (0.7–1.1 in) and adult females 24–36 mm (0.9–1.4 in) in snout–vent length. The tympanum is two-thirds of the eye diameter; a strong supra-tympanic fold runs from the eye to the shoulder. The fingers and toes bear enlarged discs; the toes are two-thirds webbed. Dorsal skin is rough with number of folds. Colouration is brownish with many, closely set black spots. The limbs are cross-barred. The venter is white while the throat is finely mottled with brown.
The following description is adopted from George Albert Boulenger's "Fauna of British India":
Indirana leithii is a terrestrial species associated with leaf-litter of moist, tropical, semi-evergreen forest, including degraded forests. It occurs at elevations between 139 and 1,329 m (456 and 4,360 ft) above sea level. Breeding takes place on wet rocks. The tadpoles can be found on moist surfaces next to streams.
This species was included as "vulnerable" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2004. It is primarily threatened by the conversion of forested land to intensive agricultural use, but also by harvesting of wood for subsistence, road construction, and tourism are threats.
