AmphibiaWeb - Theloderma pyaukkya
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Theloderma pyaukkya Dever, 2017
Burmese Camouflaged Tree Frog
family: Rhacophoridae
subfamily: Rhacophorinae
genus: Theloderma
Species Description: Dever JA. 2017. A new cryptic species of the Theloderma asperum Complex (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Myanmar. Journal of Herpetology 51: 425–436.

AmphibiaChina 中国两栖类.

Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN Red List Status Account
CITES No CITES Listing
National Status None
Regional Status None

   

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Description
Theloderma pyaukka is a small Camouflaged Treefrog. Adult male T. pyaukka have a relatively small body size with a snout-vent length range between 28.0 and 31.5 mm. No female specimens have been described. The flat, triangular head has a width slightly larger than its length. From the profile, the snout is at the same level as the jaw. In the dorsal view, the snout is squarely truncated. The snout slopes slightly from the eye to the nostril. The nostrils, located at the tip of the snout, have a slight concave depression between the orifices. The rounded canthus rostralis curves inward between the eye and the nostril. The loreal region is concave, but the interorbital and frontal areas of the head are flat. The distance between the eyes is larger than the distance between the nostrils. They eyes are round and have horizontal pupils. The tympanum is distinct, round, and has some small tubercles on the dorsal portion. The tympanum is about two-thirds the size of the eye and located more than half the tympanum diameter length away from the eye. The tympanic annulus has a slight border of tubercles. A short supratympanic fold is present, extending out from the eye, maneuvering around the tympanum and concluding near the forearm. This species has diagnostic bilateral vocal sacs in males (Dever 2017).

The dorsal skin is coarse and densely covered in calcified, pin-point sized asperities. The chin is also covered with asperities, but less densely than the dorsum and the ventrum is granular with dense clumps of smaller asperities (Dever 2017).

The distance from the elbow of the forearm to the tip of the third finger is slightly more than half the snout-vent length. The palms do not have inner or outer metacarpal tubercles or any supernumerary tubercles. The unwebbed fingers have large oval discs that range from expanded to transverse and have circummarginal and transverse grooves. The relative finger lengths are III > IV > II > I with the third finger having the largest disc. There are small, protruding subarticular tubercles along the mid-ventral ridge of the fingers with one tubercle on fingers I and II, and two on fingers III and IV. Nuptial pads are present (Dever 2017).

Theloderma pyaukkya has long legs with heels that overlap when the legs are at 90 degree angles to the body. The tibia is more than half the snout-vent length. When the leg is adpressed to the body, the tibiotarsal articulation almost reaches the snout. There is no outer metatarsal tubercle, but the inner metatarsal tubercle protrudes and is oval. The webbed and fringed toes have discs, which are smaller than the fingers, with circummmarginal and transverse grooves. The webbing formula for the toes is 1 – 1 1/3 II 1 – 1 1/3 III 1 – 1IV 1 – 1V. The toe fringes reach the discs on all toes except for toe IV. There is one subarticular tubercle on toes I and II, two on toes III and V, and three on toe IV (Dever 2017).

Like others in their genus, T. pyaukkya can be differentiated from other genera because of their calcified tuberculate skin, Y-shaped terminal phalanges, and a distinct and visible tympanum. A small body size differentiates T. pyaukkya from T. bicolor, T. corticale, T. gordoni, T. horridum, T. leporosum, T. nagalandense, T. phrynoderma, and T. ryabovi. From other small-bodied Theloderma, T. pyaukkya can be differentiated by coloration and morphological characters. More specifically, T. pyaukkya is distinguishable from the similarly appearing T. albopunctatum by having punctuated asperities on its dorsal surface, where the latter has relatively smoother skin. From T. andersoni, T. pyaukkya is unique in having completely webbed toes. From T. annae, T. pyaukkya can be differentiated by having a uniform red iris. Male T. pyaukkya possess a pair of vocal sac openings that, in conjunction with dermal asperities on the dorsum, differentiates it from the similarly appearing T. asperum. Theloderma pyaukka is distinguished from T. babengense by the former having a cream colored dorsum with dark brown markings. Ventral patterning differentiates T. pyaukkya from the uniform venter of T. lacustrinum. From T. lateriticum and T. laeve, T. pyaukkya is differentiated by dorsal coloration and patterning. Theloderma pyaukkya is further distinguished from T. laeve by the former having complete toe webbing. From T. licin, T. pyaukkya is differentiated by the absence of dermal fringes on the fingers. The presence of vomerine teeth, cream-colored digital discs, and a uniform red iris distinguish T. pyaukkya from T. nebulosum. Dorsal coloration differentiates T. pyaukka from T. palliatum. The lack of vomerine teeth differentiates the focal species from T. petilum. Disc coloration differentiates T. pyaukka from T. rhododiscus. Lastly, dorsal coloration and patterning differentiate the focal species from T. stellatum, T. truongsonense, and T. vietnamense (Dever 2017).

In life, the background color of the head, dorsum, and tips of the asperities is a light cream to white coloration. Dark brown irregular patches are found between and below the eyes extending to the tympanum. The eyes are round with rust-colored irises and horizontal pupils. The light cream, white coloration continues down the sides and the lateral region of the dorsum, but is interrupted by the distinct dark brown patch that comes to a point mid-dorsally between the light cream shoulders. Posteriorly, an irregular, creamy white blotch near the urostyle extends to the thigh and tibia. The fingers have dark-brown transverse bands that circumvent the forearms. The relatively long legs have irregular dark brown banding alternating with lighter bands. The feet and fully webbed toes have dark, distinct, transverse banding. Ventrally, the thighs and pectoral region possess a brown coloration with white marbling. The palms, tubercles of the metacarpal and metatarsal, and the nuptial pads are light cream. The fingers and the toe pads are red rust in color like the eyes, but have the additional hints of gold speckling that break up the monotony (Dever 2017).

There is some color and pattern variation between specimens. An adult male specimen had gold coloration on lateral sides and another adult male specimen had beige pectoral region medially marked with an X-shaped pattern was found in the Kachin State of northern Myanmar. Lastly, another adult male specimen found in Chin State of western Myanmar had a lighter coloration on the head and a cloudier, less distinctive back pattern (Dever 2017).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Myanmar

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
At the time of its description, T. pyaukkya was found in four tropical to subtropical forest localities in two disjunct Myanmar states, Kachin State of northern Myanmar and Chin State of western Myanmar, at elevations ranging from 266 m to 1643 m (Dever 2017).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
At the time of the species’ description, little was known about its natural history. However, Theloderma frogs generally have an arboreal lifestyle and maintain effective disguise via cryptic coloration, making these frogs difficult to observe in nature and outside of captivity (Dever 2017).

Trends and Threats
Theloderma pyaukkya is threated by habitat loss. This threat may be exacerbated by the lack of research in the region T. pyaukkya is found, limiting the knowledge of range, endemism, and genetic distinctiveness of species from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia (Dever 2017).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities

Comments
The species authority is: Dever, J. A. (2017). “A new cryptic species of the Theloderma asperum complex (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Myanmar.” Journal of Herpetology, 51(3): 425-436.

Bayesian analysis of 16S and COI mitochondrial DNA and BNDF, Rho, SIA, and Tyr nuclear genes sequences confirmed the genetic distinctiveness of T. pyaukkya. Further analysis of the mitochondrial DNA sequences confirmed the species’ membership in the T. asperum complex and showed a sister relationship to a clade composed of T. asperum and T. licin. The clade compose of those three species was found to be sister with T. albopunctatum (Dever 2017).

The Burmese-derived epithet, “pyaukkya” (pronunciation: pee-ew-cha), means “camouflaged”, referencing the cryptic coloration the frog elicits (Dever 2017).

References

Dever, J.A. (2017). ''A new cryptic species of the Theloderma asperum complex (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Myanmar.'' Journal of Herpetology, 51(3), 425-436.



Originally submitted by: Tracy T. Tran (first posted 2018-08-20)
Edited by: Ann T. Chang, Michelle S. Koo (2022-08-18)

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2022 Theloderma pyaukkya: Burmese Camouflaged Tree Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/8664> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Mar 28, 2024.



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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 28 Mar 2024.

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