Description
Kaloula kalingensis is a round, wide bodied, short headed terrestrial frog. It has a SVL of 36.5 mm. Its palatal ridges are behind its posterior nasal apertures and do not meet medially. These posterior nasal apertures are small and are not concealed by its overhanging jaw. It has a short and truncate snout that is angular and extends very slightly beyond its lower jaw. Its nostrils are lateral and not visible from the dorsal view. Its interorbital distance is larger than the upper eyelid by one and one-half times. The tympanum is distinct and slightly smaller than the eye. An indistinct skin fold begins behind its eye, thickens behind the tympanum and becomes glandular above the arm. Tubercles are prominent on the snout and are scattered between the eyes and mouth, on the flanks, dorsum, and limbs. The skin on the chin, belly, and femur is granular while the skin on the chest is smooth. Its fingers have angular pads at the tips, which are wider than the width of the fingers and the anterior edges are straight or slightly concave. It has distinct carpal tubercles. The toes are small, slightly webbed and have slightly truncate or rounded pads (Taylor 1922).

Diagnosis: K. kalingensis can be distinguished from K. baleata by the shape of finger pads, length of the third finger, presence of tubercles on palm, and size of tympanum (Taylor 1922).

Coloration: K. kalingensis has a bluish black dorsum, with red markings on the neck, flanks, and limbs. The venter and undersides of the legs are mottled with creamy white and there are cream markings around the vent. The lower eyelid has an opaque, cream colored region. The digits have white tubercles underneath (Taylor 1922).

Variation: Males have subgular vocal sacs (Taylor 1922).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Philippines

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (3 records).

K. kalingensis is distributed in the mountains of the Central Cordilleras and Sierra Madres, on northern Luzon Island, and several provinces throughout the Philippines (Diesmos et al. 2004, Brown et al. 2000). It lives mostly in moist tree hollows, in and at the edges of lowland and lower montane forests (Diesmos et al. 2004).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
K. kalingensis calls from tree holes, bamboo, and banana plants in areas that are mostly undisturbed (Diesmos et al. 2002; Brown et al. 2000). Calls are heard from 2–5 m above the ground, but also have been heard from logs on the forest floor (Brown et al. 2000). The call varies, ranging from “Bwop!” to “Eeow!”. These notes are loud, tonal and have slight dips in frequency (Diesmos et al. 2002 ).

Trends and Threats
The main threat to this species is habitat loss from deforestation, conversion to vegetable farms and real estate development. Only a few protected areas, such as Pulag National Park, house a refuge for this species and the remaining rainforest in the Cordilleras needs increased protection (Diesmos et al. 2004).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

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

Comments
The species was first described by Taylor (1922). It was removed from the synonymy of K. baleata (Frost 2011).

References

Brown, R. M., McGuire, J. A., Ferner, J. W., Icarangal, N., Kennedy, R. S. (2000). ''Amphibians and reptiles of Luzon Island, II: Preliminary report on the herpetofauna of Aurora Memorial National Park, Philippines.'' Hamadryad, 25(2), 175-195.

Diesmos, A. C., Brown, R. M., Alcala, A. C., and Guyer, C. (2002). ''New species of narrow-mouthed frog (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae; genus Kaloula) from the mountains of southern Luzon and Polillo Islands, Philippines.'' Copeia, 2002(4), 1037-1051.

Diesmos, A., Alcala, A., Brown, R., Afuang, C., Gee, G., Hampson, K., Diesmos, M. L., Mallari, A., Ong, P., Ubaldo, D., and Gutierrez, B. 2004. Kaloula kalingensis. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 12 April 2011.

Frost, D. (2011). Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.5.

Taylor, E. H. (1922). ''Additions to the herpetological fauna of the Philippine Islands, I.'' Phillippine Journal of Science, 21, 161-206.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Kaloula kalingensis: Kalinga Narrowmouth Toad <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6853> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 27, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 27 Dec 2024.

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