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Taxonomic status of Pseudophilautus conniffae (Anura: Rhacophoridae) an endemic shrub frog restricted to South–Western wet zone of Sri Lanka

SHASHIKA ABEYSEKARA; HELANI SAMARASINGHE; KELUM MANAMENDRA-ARACHCHI; HIMASH ADHIKARI; SONALI PREMARATHNE; CHAMPIKA BANDARA; USHANI PERERA; NAYANA WIJAYATHILAKA

published in Zootaxa

Pseudophilautus conniffae from Lowland wet zone of Sri Lanka, was described as a new species in 2019. The validity of the new species was questionable and was often challenged as it shares strong morphological resemblance with P. limbus. Moreover, the phylogenetic placement of P. conniffae was unknown as no molecular data was available until now. Here, we generated 16S DNA sequences and re-examined the external morphological characters to assess its taxonomic distinctiveness. Pseudophilautus conniffae was recovered as being close to P. limbus with strong posterior probability and bootstrap support. The uncorrected pairwise genetic distance between P. conniffae and P. limbus was negligible, being less than 0.3% for the 16S gene fragment. Further two molecular species delimitation methods, ABGD and mPTP suggested that P. conniffae and P. limbus are a single operational taxonomic unit. The Principal Component Analysis of the morphometric characters also resulted in overlapping clusters. These results suggest that the newly described P. conniffae is not a valid species and we conclude that P. conniffae as a junior synonym of P. limbus.

Categories Publications

Sri Lanka is no more among the top 5 countries that discharge mismanaged waste plastics to the world’s oceans.

 

A recent publication of the Center for Marine Science and Technology, Department of Zoology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura has proven that Sri Lanka is no more among the top 5 countries that discharge mismanaged waste plastics to the world’s oceans.

The publication proves that Sri Lanka’s 5th position in the worst polluters list is due to an error in source data and interpretation and the researchers request that the Government, publications, and general public to avoid referring Sri Lanka’s position in the worst polluters ranking hereafter since it is such an irrational claim.

However, the researchers also highlight that we are not doing good in managing marine plastic waste, single-use plastics in particular, the next struggle that we all have to take part in. The open-access publication is available at the following link.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2687/htm

Categories Publications

Pseudophilautus pardus, a junior synonym of P. viridis (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae)

Pseudophilautus pardus, was first described in 2007, based on a single specimen collected in Sri Lanka during the 19th century. Its absence in recent surveys suggested that the species was extinct. The distinctive spotted dorsal coloration, together with other morphological features, was used to distinguish it from congeners. In 2013, we discovered a specimen resembling the holotype of P. pardus in Samanala Strict Nature Reserve. A DNA analysis based on the 16S rRNA mt-DNA locus recovered a low uncorrected pairwise genetic distance of 0.77–0.96% between the recent example of ‘P. pardus’ and a congener, P. viridis. Molecular species delimitation methods suggest P. pardus and P. virids to be a single operational taxonomic unit. Morphological analyses using the freshly collected specimen, together with numerous photographic records show P. viridis to be a highly polychromatic species within which the coloration observed in P. pardus too occurs, though rarely. We conclude that P. pardus is a junior synonym of P. viridis.

https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.5227.4.4

WIJAYATHILAKA, N., PERERA, U., MANAMENDRA-ARACHCHI, K.E.L.U.M., ELLEPOLA, G., ADHIKARI, H., WIJAYASEKARA, S., WICKRAMASINGHE, M., PRATHAP, V. and MEEGASKUMBURA, M., 2023. Pseudophilautus pardus, a junior synonym of P. viridis (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae). Zootaxa, 5227(4), pp.459-472.

Categories Publications

Breeding biology of the endemic Dull-blue Flycatcher Eumyias sordidus in Sri Lanka

captureAuthors: Chathuranga Dharmarathne and Dharshani Mahaulpatha

Journal: Forktail 

he breeding biology of the endemic Dull-blue Flycatcher Eumyias sordidus was studied in the tropical montane cloud forests of Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka, from March 2016 to December 2018. Breeding ran from late March until June, and again from late August to October. Nestling diet was studied using a spotting scope, video camera and faecal sample analysis. A total of 68 nests were found and 32 breeding pairs were observed. The average incubation period was 20.1 ± 2.2 days and nestling period was 14 ± 3.1 days. During incubation, nest attentiveness was higher in the evening. Pairs were double-brooded and some pairs made re-nesting attempts after first nests failed. Coleoptera were their major food source, followed by Araneae and Hymenoptera. The overall nest success was 90.6% (29 out of 32 nests). Jungle Crow Corvus levaillantii was the main predator.

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