Saturday, March 21, 2020

Dilmah shrub frog (Pseudophilautus dilmah)

English: Dumbara corrugated frog
Sinhala: ඩිල්මා පදුරු මැඩියා[Dilmah panduru madiya]
Binomial: Pseudophilautus dilmah

Lulkandura Estate, known as the first tea plantation of Sri Lanka was first established by Mr. James Taylor in 1867. Even though most of the natural forests in the Loolkandura were cut down for early tea cultivation long time ago, only a small portion of the original cover still exists. Small frog in below photos was first described from the same area Loolkandura by a team of researchers led by Mr. Mendis Wickramasinghe in 2015. Population of them has only been restricted to the remaining natural forest patches of Loolkadura. Also the newly discovered frog was given the name Dilmah shrub frog (Pseudophilautus dilmah, ඩිල්මා පදුරු මැඩියා). The species has been named after Dilmah, which is a world renowned Sri Lankan tea exporting company who has contributed to the research. The fragmentation of forests and the global warming can be considered as threats for this rare frog.
Reference:
Wickramasinghe, Mendis; Bandara, Imesh Nuwan; Vidanapathirana, Dulan Ranga; Tennakoon,Kamani; Samarakoon,Sameera; Wickramasinghe, Nethu (26 April 2015). "Pseudophilautus dilmah, a new species of shrub frog (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from a threatened habitat Loolkandura in Sri Lanka".

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Temnophylloides astridula

Binomial name: Temnophylloides astridula
Temnophylloides astridula is a leaf mimicking katydid resides in lowland wet zone. Genus Temnophylloides is monotypic and endemic to Sri Lanka. Family which this katydid belongs to has been diversified from others about 200-150 million years ago in the jurassic.