Description
Sanguirana aurantipunctata is a medium sized, slender-bodied ranid frog that, like the rest of its congeners, possesses greatly expanded toes discs. The average snout-vent length of males is 51.2 ± 1.9 mm and for females 64.9 ± 3.8 mm. From the dorsal view the snout is rounded at the end; in the lateral view the snout extends past the lower jaw. The rostrum is flat. The head is slightly narrower than the body. Sanguirana aurantipunctata possesses an angular canthus rostralis and a slightly concave loreal region. The anterodorsally positioned nares protrude slightly on the outer sides and can be seen when viewing the frog from the ventral side. The wide interorbital region is flat and larger than the diameter of the eye, which itself is of moderate size. The eyes can also be seen when the frog is viewed from the ventral side. The tympanum is smaller than the eye, distinct, and located directly behind the eye with an obvious supratympanic ridge that connects with dorsolateral folds. Sanguirana aurantipunctata has postrictal tubercles that are irregular, continuous, elongated, and fleshy. The dorsum skin is smooth while the majority of the posterior venter is covered in tubercals. The skin around the round cloaca is granular and wrinkled with two large infracloacal tubercles and a supracloacal cutaneous flap. The upper arm is slender with no humeral glands while the forearm is robust. Relative lengths of fringed fingers are 4 > 5 > 3 > 2, with 2 being much shorter than three. There is no finger webbing. Large disc can be found on all fingertips but are largest on fingers 3 – 5. The ventral pads on these fingers are pointed and protrude such that they are visible from the dorsal view. Each finger has 1 to 2 large subarticular tubercals and the base of each finger has supernumerary tubercles. Hind limbs are slender with relative toe lengths of 4 > 5 ≥ 3 > 2 > 1. Toe discs are smaller than finger discs and have webbing. Webbing is almost complete on the toes but reduces distally into wide fringes. Fringes also run along the lateral edge of the exterior phalanges. As with the fingers, subarticular tubercles are large and round, numbering 1 - 3 per toe. Oval metatarsal tubercles are also present on toes, but toes do not have any supernumerary tubercles (Fuiten et al. 2011).

Fuiten et al. (2011) distinguishes Sanguirana from Hylarana on the following characters: toe discs possess circummarginal grooves, the absence of vocal sacs and humeral glands, coarse glandular skin on the posterior of abdomen, and the presence or absence of a elongated nuptial pad on manus II. Fuiten et al. (2011) further differentiate S. aurantipunctata from its congeners, all of which are restricted to the Philippines by the following characters: lack of a dark canthal stripe, white postaxial dermal flanges on the limbs, tuberculate white ventral surface, flanks that transition from green-to-purple, yellow/green dorsum, and the presence of bright orange flower shaped spots on the back. Sanguirana aurantipunctata is intermediate in size relative to other Sanguirana species.

In life, dorsal background color of both sexes is yellow-green. In males the dorsum is speckled evenly with small dark gray-purple or larger orange spots. In females the spots are either purple, small, and semi-circular or orange, large, and flower-shaped. In both sexes, the tympanum is grayish pink and the postrictal tubercles are yellow. Trunk tubercles range from pearl-white to yellowish. The lateral surface of the heads is grayish blue and either lack canthal stripes or have a very faint strip. In both sexes, the ventral surface and limbs range in color from purplish-gray to deep purple. Ventral surface of toes are grey-blue to dark grey. When preserved, the dorsal yellow-green becomes gray-blue. The tympanum becomes a light pinkish gray and the postrictal tubercles become pearl-white. The dorsal surfaces of the fingers and toes become a pale yellow while the ventral surfaces of fingers and toe pads are yellowish-gray and toes are cream with a tinge of blue. Foot webbing is grey. Ventral surfaces are cream and the throat is pearl white (Fuiten et al. 2011).

Sanguirana aurantipunctata is sexually dichromatic, with males exhibiting small dark gray or large orange spots. Females, however, possess strikingly larger, flower-shaped orange spots on the dorsal surface. In addition to spot variation, there is variation on the throats with color ranging from grey to white to yellow. There is also variation in the presence of transverse bars on the arms and legs (Fuiten et al. 2011).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Philippines

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (2 records).

Sanguirana aurantipunctata is restricted to low-mid elevation regions of Luzon Island, namely Mt. Palali, Barangay Real, and Mt. Mingan. The species has been collected from montane streams and their surrounding vegetation and rocks as well primary rainforests. It has also been encountered in limestone forests near streams in primary/secondary forests (Fuiten et al. 2011).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Sanguirana aurantipunctata is nocturnal and individuals have been recovered on tree trunks and streamside boulders. Juveniles seem to prefer hiding on narrow branches in the forest understory. Courtship and reproductive behavior, call, and, ontogenetic development is unknown in this species. Other Sanguirana species typically breed in riparian habitat and are indirect developers. This species is presumably similar in this regard. Despite the apparent lack of vocal sacs, soft peeping has been noted in other Sanguirana (Fuiten et al. 2011).

Trends and Threats
There is currently insufficient data to establish a threat status.

Comments
The species epithet, aurantipunctata means “orange-spotted” in Latin and refers to orange spots found on females (Fuiten et al. 2011).

References

Fuiten, A. M., L. J. Welton, A. C. Diesmos, A. J. Barley, B. Oberheide, M. V. Duya, E. L. B. Rico, and R. M. Brown. 2011. A new species of stream frog (Sanguirana) from the mountains of Luzon Island, Philippines. Herpetologica 67:89-103.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2013 Sanguirana aurantipunctata <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7853> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 26, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 26 Dec 2024.

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