Description
Known only from the lectotype, an adult female of 18.6 mm SVL. Elongate body, dorsally flat head with a concave interorbital region. Snout angled at about 70 degrees (category 0 of Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005), with a concave internasal area, sharp canthi, and flat loreal region. Tympanum oval-shaped, oblique, with a supratympanic fold. Toes medially webbed. Calcar present. Dorsum, flanks, and venter are smooth; the belly is granular (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005).

Color in preservative: Dark brown dorsum and venter. Limbs have indistinct crossbars (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Sri Lanka

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Endemic to Sri Lanka, but the exact type locality is unknown ("Ceylon") (Stuart et al. 2008).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species is only known from the lectotype. It has not been rediscovered despite extensive searches and is presumed extinct. Breeding is believed to have been through direct development, as is the case for other members of the genus Pseudophilautus (Stuart et al. 2008).

Trends and Threats
Habitat loss is likely to have been the major factor in the population decrease and eventual extinction of this species (Stuart et al. 2008).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss

References

Manamendra-Arachchi, K., and Pethiyagoda, R. (2005). ''The Sri Lankan shrub-frogs of the genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae), with description of 27 new species.'' Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 12, 163-303.

Stuart, S., Hoffmann, M., Chanson, J., Cox, N., Berridge, R., Ramani, P., Young, B. (eds) (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, IUCN, and Conservation International, Barcelona, Spain; Gland, Switzerland; and Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2010 Pseudophilautus oxyrhynchus <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6477> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 18, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 18 Nov 2024.

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