Saturday, May 23, 2020

Rohan’s Globular Frog (Uperodon rohani)

English: Rohan’s Globular Frog
Sinhala: රොහාන්ගේ මොට හොඹු මැඩියා[Rohange motahombu madiya]
Binomial: Uperodon rohani
Taxonomic revision done in the genus Uperadon describes that previously known amphibian Uperodon variegatus of Sri Lanka as a new species and it was named as Uperadon rohani. Also it is said that this species is endemic to Sri Lanka. Species name ‘rohani’ has been used in honor of Mr. Rohan pethiyagoda, who is a popular naturalist in the country. Uperadon rohani differs from its close Indian relative Uperadon variegatus by a set of morphological characters. In addition to the morphology, genetic studies done in the research based on 16S mitochondrial RNA also proves the same.