Description
Taruga fastigo is a moderate-sized frog with snout vent length of 35.3 – 39.5 mm in males and 54.8 – 63.9 mm in females. Head longer than width (HL 128.6-137.1 % [137.1 %] of HW; HW 31.1-33.1 % [31.1 %] of SVL; HL 41.5-44.5 % [42.6 %] of SVL). Snout pointed in both dorsal and lateral aspects. Canthus rostralis angular. Canthal edges sharp. Loreal region oblique, concave. Nasal capsule prominent. Nostril oval, dorso-laterally orientated. Internarial area concave; inter-orbital area flat. Pinal ocellus present. Nostril to snout distance less than eye to nostril distance (NS 56.3— 64.4 % [57.8 %] of EN). Internarial distance greater than nostril to snout distance (IN 111.1-123.1 % [119.2 %] of NS). Upper eyelid width subequal to interorbital width (UEW 97.7-117.9 % [116.2 %] of IO). Eye to tip-of-snout distance 42.0-45.7 % [44.0 %] of head length. Supratympanic fold distinct. Tympanum horizontally oval (TYH 108.3-131.6 % [114.3 %] of TYY), its outer rim clear, Vomerine teeth in two groups, elongate; the two groups separated from each other by a distance of 27.8 % of the length of right-hand side group. Choanae suboval, separated from each other by a distance of 4.5 times the length of the right-hand side choana. Disks well developed; disks on both fingers and toes rounded or oval; disk on first finger smaller than those on others. Lateral ridges and circum-marginal grooves present on both fingers and toes. Subarticular tubercles on both fingers and toes rounded and oval, those on fingers conical and more prominent than those on toes. Supernumerary tubercles present on both palm and tarsus; two oval palmar tubercles. Fingers free. Male with nuptial pad on top and sides of both first and second fingers and metacarpal area. Palm length greater than lower-arm length (PAL 133.7-149.4 % [144.3 %] of LAL). Third finger longest (FL I177.1-87.3 % [87.3 %] of LAL). Upper-arm length 89.6-108.9 % [108.9 %] of lower-arm length; UAL 19.2-23.1 % [23.1 %] of SVL and LAL 20.2-22.5 % [21.2 %] of SVL. Inner metatarsal tubercle oval; outer one absent. A pointed calcar on tibiotarsal articulation. Femur shorter than tibia (FEL 86.2— 93.3 % [90.9 %] of TBL; FEL 43.5-49.7 % [48.0 %] of SVL}. Tibia shorter than foot (TBL 77.9-80.1 % [80.1 %] of FOL, TBL 48.6-53.5 % [52.8 %] of SVL). Foot length 61.9-68.4 % [66.0 %] of SVL. Fourth toe longest (TL IV 31.7-34.6 % [34.6 %] of FOL). Toes webbed. Digital formulae: fingers 3>4>2>1; toes, 4>5>3>2>1. Skin of dorsum, chin and chest smooth; granular on abdomen and underside of femur. Prominent white tubercles around vent and undersurface of thigh (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001).

Color in life: metamorphs dorsally brown or olive green. An incomplete dark-brown hourglass- shaped marking on the dorsum, its outline darker tubercles around the vent orange or yellow (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001).

Color in alcohol: metamorphs dorsally ashy brown, the hourglass-shaped marking a darker brown; limbs with cross-bars; venter dull white (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Sri Lanka

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Taruga fastigo is found in Morningside tea estate near Rakwana of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve at elevation 1060m (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001; Batuwita et al.,2019).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species was observed in the vicinity of small, shaded pools and patches of marsh within the forest (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities
Intensified agriculture or grazing
Habitat fragmentation

Comments
The species authority is: Manamendra-Arachchi K. and Pethiyagoda P. (2001).

Taruga fastigo is named with reference to the pointed snout of this species (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001).

Molecular phylogenetic analysis placed members previously assigned to the genus Polypedates, which includes P. eques, P. fastigo and P. longinasus to this new genus, Taruga. Taruga species possesses a dorsolateral glandular fold that extends from the posterior margin of the upper eyelid to the mid-flank (vs. a supratympanic fold that curves over the dorsal margin of the tympanic membrane in Polypedates); a prominent calcar at the distal end of the tibia (absent in most Polypedates); a more acutely pointed snout; and 6–10 prominent conical tubercles surrounding the cloaca (absent in Polypedates) (Meegaskumbura et al., 2010).

The Taruga genus is endemic to Sri Lanka and comprises three species, T. eques, T. fastigo and T. longinasus (Batuwita et al.,2019).

References

Batuwita S, Udugampala S, DeSilva M, Diao J and Edirisinghe U. (2019). "A review of amphibian fauna of Sri Lanka: distribution, recent taxonomic changes and conservation." Journal of Animal Diversity, 1(2), 44-82. [link]

Manamendra-Arachchi K. and Pethiyagoda P. (2001). "Polypedates fastigo, a new tree frog (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae) from Sri Lanka." Journal of South Asian Natural History, 5(2), 191-199.

Meegaskumbura, M., Meegaskumbura, S., Bowatte, G. , Manamendra-Arachchi, K., Pethiyagoda, R., Hanken, J., and Schneider, C. J. . (2010). "Taruga (Anura: Rhacophoridae), a new genus of foam-nesting tree frogs endemic to Sri Lanka." Ceylon Journal of Science. Biological Sciences, 39, 75–94. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2021 Taruga fastigo <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6414> 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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