Amphibian reptile conservation_5C

: Published 2012 in the United States of America VOLUME * * NUMBER V^ a' S « '^1 ' N V '"H ; *' * «U1 V =-> V— •• V/ - • , 2> < “17 j-=r m I- " : ^ ' lit' r- S ^ r :> SRI LAEfl^ ISSN: 1083-446X elSSN: 1525-9153 Editor Craig Hassapakis USA Berkeley, California, Associate Editors Howard O Clark, Raul E Diaz USA University of Kansas, Erik R Wild Jr USA Garcia and Associates, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, USA Assistant Editors Alison Daniel D Fogell R Davis University of California, Berkeley, USA Southeastern Community College, USA Editorial Review Board David C Blackburn California C Academy Bill USA of Sciences, Kenneth Dodd, University of Florida, Port Elizabeth USA Texas USA Jodi J L Ha’il University, Julian C Lee New Mexico, USA Henry USA R Pakistan USA Rohan Pethiyagoda VENEZUELA Australian Rowley Museum, AUSTRALIA Virginia SAUDIA ARABIA Rafaqat Masroor Museum of Natural History, PAKISTAN Elnaz Najafimajd Ege University, TURKEY Mushinsky University of South Florida, Jaime E Pefaur Australian Adel A Ibrahim A&M University, USA Taos, Peter V Lindeman Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Universidad de Los Andes, Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovc IBISS University of Belgrade, SERBIA SOUTH AFRICA Lee a Fitzgerald Jr Harvey B Lillywhite University of Florida, Branch Museum, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani Museum, AUSTRALIA Peter Uetz Commonwealth University, Razi University, IRAN Larry David Wilson USA Instituto Regional de Biodiversidad, USA Advisory Board Aaron M Bauer Allison C Alberts Zoological Society of San Diego, Michael USA Villanova University, USA USA Royal Ontario Museum, Antonio W Salas Environment and Sustainable Development, Erdelen Roy W McDiarmid USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Robert W Murphy Russell A Mittermeier Conservation International, R UNESCO, FRANCE James Hanken Harvard University, USA B Eisen Public Library of Science, Walter USA USA Eric R Pianka CANADA University of Texas, Austin, USA Dawn S Wilson AMNH Southwestern Research Station, USA PERU Honorary Members Carl C Joseph T Collins (1939-2012) Gans (1923-2009) Cover Green : Pit-viper Trimeresurus trigonocephalus eaptured in Lakegala, resentative of the genus Trimeresurus on the island of Sri Lanka; an forested areas and oeeasionally in well-wooded eommonly home gardens and Dumbara endemie Hills, Knuekles World Heritage speeies Noeturnal, sluggish site, Sri and arboreal Lanka The sole repthis snake is found in eardamom, eoeoa, and elove nutmeg More Commonly found on low bushes and deseending to plantations sueh as tea, eoffee, distributed in the wet zone of the eountry but also found in the dry zone as well the ground to seareh for prey at night Generally found elose to streams Photo Imesh Numan Bandura — Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Worldwide Community- Supported Herpetological Conservation (ISSN: 1083-446X; elSSN: 1525-9153) is published by Craig Hassapakis/Amp/z/Z^/tm & Reptile Conservation as full issues at least twiee yearly (semi-annually or more often depending on needs) and papers are immediately released as they are finished on our website; http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org; email: are.publisher@gmail.eom Amphibian & Reptile Conservation is published as an open access journal Please visit the official journal website at: http://amphibian-reptile-eonservation.org Amphibian & Reptile Conservation aeeepts manuseripts on the biology of amphibians and reptiles, with emphasis on eonservation, sustainable management, and biodiversity Topies in these areas ean inelude: taxonomy and phylogeny, speeies inventories, distribution, conservation, species profiles, ecology, natural history, sustainable management, conservation breeding, citizen science, social networking, and any other topie that lends to the eonservation of amphibians and reptiles worldwide Prior eonsultation with editors is suggested and important if you have any questions and/or eoneerns about submissions Further details on the submission of a manuseript ean best be obtained by eonsulting a eurrent published paper from the journal and/or by aeeessing Instruetions for Authors at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Instruetions to Authors : website: http://amphibian-reptile-eonservation.org/submissions.html © Craig Hassapakis/Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Copyright: © 2011 Commons Attribution License, Janzen and Bopage This an open-access is which permits unrestricted article distributed use, distribution, Amphibian & Reptiie Conservation 5(2):1-13 under the terms of the Creative and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited The herpetofauna and unprotected patch Morningside, Sri Lanka of a small tropical rainforest in ' ^Rheinallee 13, 47119 Duisburg, 3RETER JANZEN AND ^MALAKA BOPAGE GERMANY —Morningside of ^Biodiversity Education & Exploration Society (BEES) 63/c Wackvella road Galle 80000, SRI LANKA Lanka with highly endemic herpetofauna However, this relictual forest area lies inside a tea plantation and is mostly lacking conservation protection Species inventories of remaining rainforest patches are currently incomplete, and information about the behavior and ecology of the herpetofauna of Morningside is poorly known In our survey, we identified 13 amphibian species and recorded an additional two species that could not be identified with existing keys We determined 11 reptile species from this patch of forest, and another unidentified Cnemasp/s gecko was recorded We did not assess the herpetofauna outside of this forest Abstract is an exceptional area in Sri Some species are described for the first time in Morningside, suggesting a wider distribution in Sri Lanka We also document a call from a male Pseudophiiautus cavirostris for the first time Perspectives for future surveys are given patch Key words Citation: ian & Survey, Morningside, Sri Lanka, herpetofauna, conservation, Pseudophiiautus cavirostris Jansen, P and Bopage, M 2011 The herpetofauna Reptile Conservation 5(2) :1 -1 of a small and unprotected patch of tropical rainforest in Morningside, Sri Lanka Amphib- 3(e26) Introduction In our attempt to understand the biodiversity of Sri Lanka is a small (65,610 km^) island south of India The island lies between latitudes 5°55’ and 9°51’ N and longitudes 79°41’ and 81°54’ E Sri Lanka is divided into four different climatic zones (Domroes and Roth 1998): dry, wet, transitional, and semiarid The dry zone is situ- Lanka, scientists from the Wildlife Heritage Trust Sri have made great progress in naming many new species and 60% of the total 1250 and 1900 land area Annual rainfall mm, and the is and characterized by monsoon 23% rainfall sists Sri is tified mm The Lanka, cov- natural vegetation con- zone, with annual rainfall between 1900 and 2500 The two semiarid zones receive less than 1250 (in the southeast mm Man Reserve) under the forest in mm est Morningside is and Biosphere Reserve UNESCO World Heritage the largest remaining tropical most unprotected Morningside are logged Today, only a few for- fragments remain Methodology at times is lower This high elevation To survey Morningside for reptiles and amphibians, fieldwork was conducted for three days and nights in a small patch of remaining forest near the town of Suriyakanda in Rakwana Hills All three of these July 2010 This patch of forest lies inside a tea plantation mountainous regions have a different climate from the and lacks any conservation protection, and surrounding area, as expected (Werner 2001) The Morn- that ingside area lies in the parts of the of rainfall annually Within Central Mountains and the Knuckles Mountains, and recently from the as a region of high conservation priority Located rainforest in Sri Eanka, but climate has been recognized previously from both the more and conservation and northwest) mountainous regions, the temperature and can approach freezing in Morningside, scientists Convention Sinharaja these zones, climate can also vary along elevational gradients In it (MAB an intermediate transitional lies undescribed amphibians Lanka (Anslem de Silva, pers comm., comm) Due to the high levels of ende- has also been declared a of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and rain forest Be- tween these two zones still in the eastern part of the Sinharaja forest, of the total land area and receiving an annual of 2500-5000 likely organizations like Conservation International have iden- and thorn scrublands The wet zone encompasses southwestern ering mism found mean annual temperature forests expanding our knowledge of the region reptiles in Sri Krvavac, pers between ranges from 27° to 30° C Floristically, the dry zone significantly However, there are ated in the eastern and northern parts of the island, cover- ing (WHT) Rakwana Hills it will it is possible be cleared for tea plants in the near future The coordinates of our survey starting point were identified Correspondence ^ Email: pjanzen@ gmx.de amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 001 October 2011 I Volume I Number I e26 Janzen and Bopage with a handheld and 80° 37’ 9” E level) GPS (Garmin at eTrex) as 6° 27’ 17” an elevation of 975 We could not ascertain the N m asl (above sea size of the forest patch using the available resources The forest lacks large trees (above 10 m) and the canopy is not completely closed In open canopy, sufficient light reached the ground and bushes were able to grow; it was often possible to see the sky through holes in the canopy No attempts were made this No was recorded during the study period, but strong winds prevailed during most of the sampling time The surveys were conducted by walkto identify vegetation rain ing along trails and a stream that fiows through the forest, as well as by searching had a depth of in less than Cnemaspis and around ponds The ponds 60 cm and were considered genus Cnemaspis, and to be temporary Dead logs and rocks were overturned and leaf litter at we found a communal laying site of Cnemaspis at Morningside Estate, only a few kilome- was checked for reptiles and amphibians These surveys were done during daytime and sp away from this forest patch Species identification of these specimens was not possible, as this genus must be ters night between p.m and midnight reviewed for the whole of Sri Eanka, and in particular for Morningside Several new species have been discovered, but remain undescribed (Anslem de Silva, pers comm.) Results Cyrtodactylus subsolanus During the ians, field trips, we found 15 species of amphib- although two of these were unidentifiable using This gecko formerly belonged to the species C fraenatus taxonomy keys (not listed below) A total of 11 species of reptiles were identified, plus one unidentified current gecko All identified species are listed in Table and was by Batuwita and Bahir (2005) We found an adult specimen with total length 20 cm inside the house foraging for insects at night and a single young specimen in a bush during a trip in the late evening The day gecko C subsolanus is Reptiles identified as a distinct species in restricted to Morningside Gekkonidae Cnemaspis sp The genus Cnemaspis consists of day-active geckos The species are more or less brownish to grayish in coloration We found house nearby the all specimens inside or around a small forest The geckos are common around the house, and they lay eggs in small holes in the door- frame We could not find evidence for communal egg lay- ing This behavior is described for another Cnemaspis member of the sp amphibian-reptile-conservation.org Cyrtodactylus subsolanus 002 October 2011 I Volume I Number I e26 Herpetofauna Tropical rainforest survey area Table in Morningside, Sri of Morningside, Sri Lanka Lanka Checklist of amphibians and reptiles found during the survey Amphibians Reptiles Bufonidae Agamidae Adenomus kelaartii {GunVner, 1858) endangered* Calotes calotes (Linnaeus, 1758) near threatened Calotes liolepis Boulenger, 885 vulnerable* Dicroglossidae Lyriocephalus scutatus (Linnaeus, 1758) near threatened* Otocryptis wiegmanni Wag\er, 1830 near threatened* Fejervarya kirtisinghei (Manamendra-Arachchi and Gabadage, 1996) least concern* Gekkonidae Cnemaspis spec Microhylidae Cyrtodactylus subsolanus Batuwita and Bahir, 2005 not Ramanella obscura (Gunther, 1864) near threatened* evaluated* Geckoella triedrus (Gunther, 1864) near threatened* Ranidae Scincidae Hylarana temporalis (Gunther, 1864) near threatened Lankascincus taprobanensis (Kelaart, 1854) near threatened* Rhacophoridae Colubridae Pseudophilautus cavirostris (Gunther, 1869 ) endangered* Pseudophilautus fergusonianus (Ahl, 1927) least concern* Pseudophilautus folicola (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiya Ahaetulla nasuta (Bonnaterre, 1790) Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, goda 2005) endangered* Pseudophilautus procax (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiya goda 2005) critically 789) Viperidae endangered* Hypnale hypnale Pseudophilautus reticulatus (Gunther, 1869) endangered* Pseudophilautus singu (Meegaskumbura, Manamendra-Arach chi and Pethiyagoda 2009) not evaluated* Pseudophilautus stictomerus (Gunther, 1876) near threatened* Polypedates cruciger Blyth, 852 least concern* Polypedates fastigo Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2001 critcally endangered* amphibian-reptile-conservation.org (Laurenti, 1768)* Trimeresurus trigonocephalus *Asterisk stands for 003 endemic (Latreille, to Sri October 2011 1801) vulnerable* Lanka | Volume | Number | e26 Janzen and Bopage a slightly higher rainfall than the surrounding area Geckoella triedrus distributed in forests This small gecko is Our a typical inhabitant of forests in the wet zone, but it is recorded from some parts of the dry zone as well Das and De Silva (2005) restricted the elevational distribution to m asl 700 at night at m asl is Geckoella triedrus a small is a member on the ground, and of the leaf it is litter 1000 m asl detection of C liolepis in Morningside represents endemic is agamid species is difficult to climbs the stems of trees and then curls to the region This find because it an elevation of 975 around the stem, avoiding detection All three specimens brown (one female and two males) that black col- to ored gecko with tiny whitish dots on the dorsum This gecko to the highest regions in the distribution Calotes liolepis However, we found our only specimen active and plantations up It is at heights between and we found sat on a stem m One of the males had two bluish stripes laterally and an orange throat herpetofauna living The female was grayish colored Somaweera found a specimen with red stripes (Manthey 2008) One of the authors (M.B.) difficult to find found C desilvai on an earlier trip in this forest patch Calotes desilvai looks quite similar to C liolepis and restricted to a small part of the hir and Maduwage 2005) This is Morningside area (Ba- is one of the few places where both species live in sympatry However, we did not detect any C desilvai on this trip Geckoella triedrus Agamidae Calotes calotes Calotes calotes all is agamid found The distribution a widespread arboreal over Sri Lanka up to 1500 m asl ranges north into India This agamid lizard anthropophilic species and is is a typical often found in gardens found a male C calotes sleeping in the late We evening at the forest border Calotes liolepis Otocryptis wiegmanni Calotes calotes The kangaroo Calotes liolepis This agamid lizard lizard is very common in the forests of Morningside We found adults and young quently This agamid is specimens fre- distributed throughout the wet generally restricted to the wet zone and some parts of the intermediate zone as well zone, with a few exceptions in the intermediate and dry Only one species of the genus was described for Sri Lanka until Bahir and Silva (2005) described a new species is zone In these drier areas, it is amphibian-reptile-conservation.org found on small hills with 004 October 2011 I Volume I Number I e26 Herpetofauna of Morningside, Sri Lanka (O nigristigma) Otocryptis nigristigma is restricted to Male O wiegmanni have a black patch on the dewlap, and by this they can be distinguished from O nigristigma Otocryptis wiegmanni is able to run bipedally when fleeing Otocryptis wiegmanthe dry and intermediate zones ni can be found active during daytime or sleeping in the darkness on branches of trees and bushes Otocryptis wiegmanni male specimen Lyriocephalus scutatus young specimen where it inhabits forests and home gardens It is a slowmoving species and is mostly arboreal Most specimens are light green or yellowish in coloration, although fe- males are sometimes grayish or brownish Young spec- imens are brownish and bushes or small species is trees live on or near the ground in A unique defensive posture of this the display of the deep red color of the mouth Lyriocephalus scutatus can easily be found in the darkness when they sleep and hang on tree stems In the light of a torch, one can see them easily by the light coloration of the body young to adult We found L scutatus often, from very male specimens during both daytime and at night Scincidae Lankascincus taprobanensis Lankascincus are ground living species found in leaf ter It is difficult Otocryptis wiegmanni s\eep\ng to photograph these skinks because they quickly hide under leaf cus taprobanensis from 1000 Lyriocephalus scutatus lit- is litter upon detection Lankascin- a mountainous species, distributed m to 2300 m asl We found this skink at their lowest distribution level in Morningside The skinks are active during daytime and can be easily photographed at wet zone and few places of the intermediate zone below 1600 m asl, Lyriocephalus scutatus is restricted to amphibian-reptile-conservation.org the night 005 October 2011 | Volume | Number | e26 Janzen and Bopage Lankascincus taprobanensis Hypnale zara Trimeresurus trigonocephalus Colubridae Trimeresurus trigonocephalus Ahaetulla nasuta Only one specimen was found Lanka and mainland is widely no color distributed throughout Sri m asl We found one specimen hanging on a very docile It is species; the snake did not try to bite, but Asia This snake Lanka it did try to escape varieties of A nasuta in Sri Lanka This opistoglyph snake when is branches next to a pond in the dark dis- often found in gardens in every climatic zone There are This species below 1075 in tree branches at the bor- der of the forest at night Ahaetulla nasuta is an arboreal snake with greenish ground color and often variegated black patterns tributed across Sri is is green-colored and becomes mottled disturbed Dendrelaphis tristis This slender and long snake has nearly the same distribution as A nasuta, the same place and we found one specimen nearly at as the A nasuta specimen Dendrelaphis common more typically found in the lower parts of Sri Lanka Das and De Silva (2005) gave a distribution range up to 750 m asl We found this species 200 m higher in Morningside The snake was hiding in tristis is bushes a snake, at night Viperidae Hypnale zara This venomous snake is endemic to Sri Lanka It is a small brownish snake found in mountain and submon- where it can easily be found a specimen hiding around a pond tane forests living in leaf overlooked We litter, at night Trimeresurus trigonocephalus amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 006 October 2011 I Volume I Number I e26 Herpetofauna of Morningside, Sri Lanka Trimeresurus trigonocephalus Fejervarya kirtisinghei Amphibians Microhylidae Bufonidae Ramanella obscura Adenomus Adenomus streams, kelaartii is a small slender toad which is found near where we found our only specimen during the survey it Ramanella obscura is a small species (32 mm) living on the ground in leaf litter in shaded forests, but it sometimes climbs on trees and can be found in tree holes up to kelaartii two meters high It is distributed throughout the wet zone up to 1200 m asl We found several specimens near or inside ponds Egg clutches rest in a single layer on the wa- a ground-dwelling species, but It is can sometimes be found climbing on trees Adenomus wet zone and mountainous Lanka There are no descriptions of eggs or We found R obscura tadpoles together with kelaartii is restricted to the ter surface areas of Sri tadpoles of Fejervarya kirtisinghei in the pond Breeding tadpoles in nature, but there is of R obscura in phytotelmata a description of tadpoles found egg clutches from captive bred specimens (Haas et al 1997; Haas 1999) We found one specimen together with Hylarana is described, but we only in ponds temporalis Ramanella obscura Adenomus kelaartii Dicroglossidae Fejervarya kirtisinghei This ranid like species is widely distributed in the low- land areas of Sri Lanka in the wet and the dry zone In the past, F kirtisinghei has been confused with F greeni The latter is restricted to the higher elevations of Sri Lanka We near ponds together with Hyla- found F kirtisinghei rana temporalis and Ramanella obscura We observed Ramanella obscura egg masses tadpoles with the typical black tag in the pond amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 007 October 2011 I Volume I Number I e26 Janzen and Bopage Rhacophoridae Pseudophilautus cavirostris An arboreal species, often in canopies P cavirostris is perhaps found most (Dutta and Manamendra-Arachchi 1996) This frog reaches 50 mm in length and has a tu- berculated dorsum and fringes along the lower arms and The coloration can be greenish or mottled with grey and brown The frog is well camouflaged to look like lichens on a stem and is difficult and rare to And tarsus Descriptions of eggs and mating behavior are not giv- en elsewhere Ramanella obscura tadpoles in pond leaves 1.5 We found a male specimen calling from m above ground around 11 p.m Manamendra- Arachchi and Pethiyagoda (2005) suggested that males not come down from the canopy because they could Ranidae not And male specimens Hylarana temporalis This is a typical species of the forest patch in Morning- side It is widely distributed in Sri Lanka’s wet zone from the lowlands up to 1800 m asl The frogs are mostly brownish-colored, with cross bars on the arms and legs We found H temporalis near the stream and near ponds, where the ground one hind foot is wet or muddy One frog had only Pseudophilautus cavirostris calling Hylarana temporalis Hylarana temporalis with missing amphibian-reptile-conservation.org Pseudophilautus foot 008 cavirostris October 2011 I Volume I Number I e26 Territorial behavior of Lyriocephalus scutatus Ord 2004) Body adjustments help lizards to locate one another The upright position of display in L scutatus, combined with their laterally placed movable eyes on the top of their head, enables them to see others in the group in such a way individuals Many that lizards are able to distinguish other by their side view anurans exhibit synchronized calls known as “chorus” behavior (Narins 1992) Likewise, Lyriocephalus scutatus shows synchronized maintenance territorial behaviors within a particular group (i.e., individuals within the group display their territorial behaviors When multaneously) one particular individual maintenance behavior is starts to same group eventu- display, the other individuals in the ally start their display as well si- Synchronized territorial important for the recognition of the territory of a particular individual relative to all other individuals in the group from one point of view In general, known are among agamid be to territorial lizards of Sri Lanka males (Deraniyagala 1931, 1953; Manamendra-Arachchi 1998; de Silva et al 2005) and they show territorial behaviors more than females and juveniles Therefore, it is not entirely surprising that males of L scutatus show Body-lift, Gular Sac Display, Headbob, and Tail-wag whereas females not Adjustment and Still cause all are not territorial maintenance behaviors be- three reproductive groups show them Figure 15 Gonocephalus in nearly equal frequencies, with males showing a slightly lower Sarawak, Malaysia frequency than the others larger may be due Subadults showed the highest frequency of Walking among the observed behaviors This may be due Lambir Hills National Park, ranges compared to that of males, which and to highly territorial nature of males, fe- males mainly moving about for feeding and mating The to the process of acquiring a permanent territory Males were more home sp in female active than females This disparity be- always overlapped with that of males, territories tenance behaviors since they occur most frequently in which suggests that a single male has access to one or two females Subadults, on the other hand, have territories that overlap with females and adult males This may be due to them not being of breeding size and thus not a males threat to the resident adult males generally tween the sexes suggests that Body-lift, Gular Sac Dis- play, Head-bob, and Tail-wag are vital territorial main- The three genera Lyriocephalus, Ceratophora, and was not linked body size of the of the territory might depend on the slope Territory size to the Gonocephalus are consistently placed within the same clade of the acrodont lizard phylogeny (Macey et al owner The size 2000) Ceratophora (Sri Lankan horned lizards) and the study area, structure of the forest, or Lyriocephalus are ence in the area Males had their Gonocephalus, is sister taxa (Schulte et al and other physical factors of the land, vegetation cover of 2002), while the closest Southeast Asian relative of Lyriocephalus (Macey et al 2000) The territorial is somewhat observed in previous fieldwork be- that tree On one occasion a female was found on one of by a male This study shows that adult males of They perform highly territorial Head-bob but there is a clear difference in the way they hold the body in Body-lift, Ceratophora tennentii holds its body with a curvature of the spinal column while positioning the legs in similar manner to that of L scutatus Observations on Gonocephalus sp (Fig 15) in Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia show a similar territorial behavior to that of L scutatus, with Body-lift and Gular Sac Display being performed in ritories, a similar manner frequented perch Body-lift and The results presented here in the size of male and female amphibian-reptile-conservation.org show a L scutatus are Individual males maintain their ter- although their territories can overlap with fe- males and male subadults Adults of arboreal Anolis vertical territories such as trees and walls Since a lizard defends all of the area in which it is found, except perhaps resting and egg laying sites, terri- spp usually tory is occupy almost equivalent with 1975; Jennings and home range Thompson minutes Females have the 111 body at site to another, a single vertical site (Philibosian 1999) Generally, a liz- ard spends the entire daylight period large difference territories and tree the trees occupied similar to L scutatus as (Fig 14) own defended interfer- they morning and evening displays while perched on havior of the endemic Leaf-nosed horned lizard {Cera- tophora tennentii) human moving from one often spending several A typical perch position is with and head pointing toward the ground October 2012 I Volume I Number I at e56 Bandara various angles The primary activities within the territory Literature cited include feeding, copulation, and defense, the latter usually against of similar members of size the same species and Bahir and sex, MM, ment of Adults tend to stay in one territory until more mobile Juveniles separated from adults, perching on Surasinghe TD 2005 the Sri A conservation assess- Lankan Agamidae (Reptilia: Sauria) Contribution to Biodiversity Exploration and Re- death, while younger animals are In: are usually spatially search in Sri Lanka Editors, Yeo DCJ, small rocks and low vegetation Subadults are often may overlap (Jennings and Thompson Pe- hiyagoda R The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supple- tol- ment 12:407-412 Bambaradeniya CNB, Samarawickrema PK, Ranawana KB 1997 Some observations on the natural history erated within adult territories and territories of males and females Ng PKL, 1999) of Lyriocephalus scutatus (Linnaeus, 1776) (Reptilia: Agamidae) Lyriocephalus 3(l):25-28 Conclusion Deraniyagala PEP 1931 The same group a significant behavior and is be novel This behavior seems within a group to spot all to A Colored Atlas of some Vertebrates from Ceylon 2; Tetrapod Reptiles Ceylon Deraniyagala PEP 1953 may permit the individuals Government Press 35 plates 101 p De Silva A, Bauer A, Goonawardana S, Drake or most of the other individu- als at once, thus increasing the Lizards Spoila Zelanica 16(2): 139-180 arboreal distribution of the individuals of L scuta- tus in the Some Ceylon -i- communication among Na- J, individuals within the group Further study should be thanael S, Chandrarathne R, Somathilaka S 2005 performed to investigate Status of the tatus this peculiar more thoroughly Within behavior of L scu- same group is the foremost finding and lizards possess Moreover, it may be Knuckles Massif with and Cophotis ceylanica Lyriochephalus 06:43-52 Jennings WB, it Thompson G 1999 Territorial behavior in the Australian scincid lizard Ctenotus fallens Herpe- gives us evidence of the hidden eccentric behaviors that agamid in the special reference to Calotus liocephalus the short period of time allowed for the present study, the arboreal distribution of individuals in agamid tologica 55(3):352-361 that other Karunarathna agamid lizards show a similar aerial horizontal distribution and synchronizing display as well What is clear is that future studies on the behavior of agamid lizards of Sri Lanka are needed since much of their ecology remains unknown territorial on the DMSS, Amarasinghe AAT territorial 2008 Notes behaviour of Otocryptis wiegmanni Wagler, 1830 (Reptilia: Agamidae: Draconinae) Herpetotropicos 4(2):79-83 Macey JR, Schulte II, Larson A, Ananjeva NB, Wang Y, Pethiyagoda R, Rastegar-Pouyani N, Papenfuss TJ Acknowledgments — 2000 Evaluating trans-tethys migration: I thank Dr (Mrs.) Suyama H using acrodont lizard phylogenetics Systematic Biol- Meegaskumbura of Department of Zoology, Faculty of ogy 49(2):233-256 Manamendra-Arachchi K 1998 Gecko Sri Lanka Na- Science, University of Peradeniya for her kind guidance, advice and comments throughout the research Moreover, I wish to Ukuwela ture l(l):45-55 thank Mr Ruchira Somaweera, Mrs Nilusha Somaweera, Mr Nay ana wijetilake, selecting this research topic I would also like to thank Chamara PM Narins and Mr Kanishka comments of for their constructive An example 1992 Evolution of anuran chorus behavior: Neural and behavioral constraints The American Naturalist 139:90-104 Philibosian R 1975 Territorial behavior and population Jay aba Amarasinghe, Thilanka Ranathunge, Chathura regulation in the lizards, Anolis acutus and Ekanayake, Kasun Munasinghe, Sandun Nalaka, Lahiru tatellus Malshan, and the members of Youth Exploration Society, Royal Botanic Gardens Peradeniya for and field assistance Special Copeia 1975(3):428-444 Samarawickrama VAMPK, Ranawana KB, Rajapaksha DRNS, Ananjeva NB, Orlov LN, Ranasinghe JMAS, Samarawickrama VAR 2006 A new species of the genus Cophotis (Squamata: Agamidae) from Sri Lanka comments their thanks go to Mr Ruchira Somaweera Mr Mendis Wickramasinghe, Mr Kanishka Ukuwela and Mr Sameera Karunarathna, Mr Pradeep Russian Journal of Herpetology 13(3):207-214 Schulte JA II, Macey R, Pethiyagoda R, Larson A 2002 Samarawickrema, Mr Samitha Harishchandra for providing the necessary literature, for valuable critique and Rostral horn evolution review of the manuscript, and for personal comments genus Ceratophora endemic am I also thankful to the villagers of Yatihalagala for their kind cooperation during the field studies and I A cris- among agamid to Sri lizards of the Lanka Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 22(1): 11 1-1 17 gratefully Smith acknowledge the comments by the anonymous review- MA 1935 The Launa of British India, including Ceylon and Burma Reptilia and Amphibia Volume ers II - Sauria Taylor and Francis, London, United Kin- dom amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 112 October 2012 I Volume I Number I e56 Territorial behavior of Lyriocephalus scutatus Somaweera R, Somaweera N 2009 Lizards of Sri Lanka: A Colour Guide with Field Keys Chaimaira Pub- lications, Stuart-Fox Germany 303 DM, Ord p TJ 2004 Sexual selection, natural selection and the evolution of dimorphic coloration and ornamentation in agamid Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 271:2249lizards 2255 Wickramasinghe LJM 2006 A new species of Cnemaspis (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from Sri Lanka Zootaxa 1369:19-33 Received: 29 May 2011 Accepted: 11 October 2012 Published: 27 October 2012 Imesh Nuwan Bandara obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree specializing in zoology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Despite his love for nature and animals beginning in his early childhood, his “scientific” exploration of biodiversity began with him joining the Youth Exploration Society of Sri Lanka (Y.E.S.) in late 1990s Since then he has been involved in multitude of nature-related with activities, especially regard to Sri Lankan unique fauna (his field experience as a freelance researcher/biologist primarily covers Imesh is keen on studying much of the land vertebrates and invertebrates, their taxecology, and conservation He is also particularly interested in ethnobotany and cultural the fauna of Sri Lanka) onomy, life history, Imesh has experience working in most of the Sri Lankan National Parks, Nature Reserves, Protected Areas, other Eorest Reserves and rural village areas across the country be- biodiversity of the island (Sri Lanka) Strict ginning in 1998 through conducting, organizing, and consulting with biodiversity awareness programs in the conservation community Imesh applies his knowledge of Sri Lankan herpetology to conserve some of the most threatened amphibian and reptile species of the island through various research and awareness programs Imesh is a member and a former president of Y.E.S His specific fields of research interest include: Ecosystem services, community based conservation, traditional agricultural practices, ethnobotany, local biodiversity, and behavioral ecology of herpetofauna and other wild fauna amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 113 October 2012 I Volume I Number I e56 Copyright: © 2012 Dissanayake and Wellapuli-Arachchi.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative stricted use for Commons Amphibian & Reptiie Conservation 5(2) :1 14-1 24 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, which permits unre- non-commercial and education purposes only provided the original author and source are credited endemic shrub frog Pseudophilautus regius (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005) at Mihintale Sanctuary, Sri Lanka Habitat preferences of the ^Duminda S B Dissanayake and ^S M Wellapuli-Arachchi ^•^Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale, SRI LANKA — Abstract Mihintalae is situated in the dry zone of the North Central Province of Sri Lanka, at an elevation of 108 m, and is an under studied site of the habitat of the endemic shrub frog Pseu- dophiiautus regius Six different habitat types which included forest edge, seasonal pond, rock, shrub, grassland, and home garden habitats were selected and systematically sampled to identify the habitat preference of P regius During the survey, a total of 143 P regius individuals were counted The highest percentage (53%) of individuals were recorded from the forest edge habitats, 23% from shrub land habitats, 20% from home gardens, and 2% from grassland and seasonal ponds No individuals were found in the rocky areas The number of observed individuals of Pseudophiiautus regius increased with the rainfall in forest habitats and simultaneously decreased in the home gardens During the dry season the overall turnout of the number of individuals increased in home gardens However, more extensive and systematic studies, over a longer period of time, are required to estimate the population size and document the fluctuation of P regius and implement suitable conservation measures, if necessary Key words Citation: chi Pseudophilautus regius, habitat preference, Sri Lanka, Mihintale Sanctuary Dissanayake DSB, Wellapuli-Arachchi SM 2012 Habitat preferences and Pethiyagoda 2005) Lanka is endemic shrub frog Pseudophilautus regius (Manamendra-Arach- Sanctuary, Sri Lanka Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 5(2):114-124 (e57) at Mihintale (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005; Meegaskumbura and Manamendra-Arachchi 2005; Meecies Introduction Sri of the part of the Sri gaskumbura et Lanka- Western Ghats bio- al 2009; Meegaskumbura and Manamen- diversity hotspot with a rich herpetofaunal assemblage dra-Arachchi 2011) (Meegaskumbura et al 2002; Bossuyt et al 2004; Meegaskumbura et al 2009; De Silva 2009; Meegaskumbura and Manamendra-Arachchi 2011) A total of 112 amphibian species are known from Sri Lanka (De Silva et al 2005; Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005 and 2006; Meegaskumbura and Manamendra-Arachchi 2005; Meegaskumbura et al 2010; Meegaskumbura and Manamendra-Arachchi 2011) Among the Sri Lankan amphibians, the most speciose family is the frog family Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae consists of approximately 321 species within two subfamilies and distributed across a wide range of habitats in tropical Africa and south Asia, including India and Sri Lanka (Frost 2008; Li Amphibian diversity of Sri Lanka is directly influenced by climate, vegetation, topography, and geology, et al 2008; Yu et al and its high rainfall and humidity provide ideal condi- tions for amphibians The species richness of Pseu- Lanka (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005) The only two species of Pseudophilautus that have been reported hitherto from the dry zone of Sri Lanka are P fergusonianus (Ahl 1927) and P regius (Manamendra-Arachchi dophilautus is greatest in the wet zone of Sri and Pethiyagoda 2005) Pseudophilautus regius demic species listed as List of Threatened species is (De Silva 2008; Frost 2011) All the Sri Lank- Data Deflcient in the is an en- 2007 Red Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka This distributed in localized patches of the dry zone et al 2004; Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethi- an rhacophorids belong to the subfamily Rhacophorinae yagoda 2005; Karunarathna and Amarasinghe 2007; that contains three genera Pseudophilautus, Polypedates, Karunarathna and Taruga (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda Mihinthale Sanctuary in the Anuradhapura District (Dis- 2005; Meegaskumburaet al 2010; AmphibiaWeb 2011; sanayake is the 2008; De Silva 2009) including the et al 2011) Pseudophilautus regius becomes active during the Meegaskumbura and Manamendra-Arachchi 2011), of which Pseudophilautus et al most diverse with 68 spe- northeast monsoon and inter-monsoonal period (Bahir et Correspondence Email: ^duminda.rusl® gmail.com amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 114 November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Dissanayake and Wellapuli-Arachchi 2005) However, very al little is known about ing biology (Dubois 2004; Bahiret its breed- 2005), with the al number was recorded from dry FEH (53%) (Fig followed by SAH (23%), HGH (20%), GLH (Fig 5), highest 3), SPH (2%) No individuals were recorded only report being that after amplexus, the female digs a and small hole where she lays her eggs and then covers them from RAH during the survey period These results suggest that the most preferred habitats of P regius are FEH, SAH, and HGH Seasonal ponds provide good breeding sites for anurans (Conant and Collins 1991; Gibbs 2000), and according to Dissanayake et al (2011) SPH had the highest percentage of amphibians recorded in the Mihinthale Sanctuary However, we recorded few individuals in SPH This could be because the habitat was surrounded by rocks with no moisture, no thick leaf litter layer (20 mm), or any significant canopy with soil (Karunarathne and Amarasinghe 2007) Virtu- ally nothing is ior, known about the population size, behav- dispersal of non-breeding individuals, and habitat preferences of regius This study P unravel the habitat preference of was carried out to regius in the Mihin- P tale Sanctuary Methods and materials (Fig 4) GLH layer (over 70%) Study area was not covered with leaf litter and the area had a higher percentage of Imperata with most Panicum maximum grasses, which might be a reason for the low number of individuals recorded in this habitat type, yet more than SPH Most anurans are active during a confined period of occurring during the inter-monsoonal (October and time in the day or season (Peterson and Dorcas 1992) In Mihintale Sanctuary tale (Anuradhapura is located near the town of Mihin- District, the dry zone of Sri Lanka Mihinthale of it is is Annual the north-east February) periods The rainfall in the area of mm, many monsoonal (December un- mean annual 35 °C The Mihintale Sanctuary acres (999.6 ha) in extent with species, vocal advertisement represents the of approximately 2,470 1992) Furthermore, the calls increase the probability of no proper demarcated being exposed to predators During the survey, most re- is maximum energetically cordings of 1) P came from FEH and SAH Ageratum conyzoide, Clidemia regius calling Stachytarpheta indica, Pterospermum suberifolium, Lantana camara, Zizyphus oenopila, Leucaena leucocephala Acacia leucophloea, Drypetes sepiaria, Bauhinia racemosa, and Bridelia retusa were the abundant plant species in these two habitats Average DBH in FEH was 16.26 cm, in- Methods hirta, The study was carried out from October 2010 to March 2011, with the exception of February 2011 Quadrat sampling (Heinen 1992) in randomly selected points formed within the Mihintale Sanctuary four 10 X 10 m quadrats were sampled was per- cluding trees with a A total of twenty- enum at selected points that, DBH > with small layer (over 70%) and Edge (FEH; Fig 3), Seasonal Pond (SPH; Fig 4), Rocky Area (RAH; Fig 9), Shrub Area (SAH), Grassland (GLH; Fig 5), and Home Garden (HGH) Each Therefore, FEH habitat consisted of four fixed-quadrat sampling points to avoid desiccation in each habitat type The habitat types sampled were: Forest Field surveys were conducted from 1800 to each sampling site was visited twice a week volved sorting through all leaf litter ing eggs (Bahir et litter litter were mass On of and relative 4% RH at at all other 77 °F within 10 to (2007) the contra- volume, depth, and dry were found bemany studies on anurans litter in Rica (Lieberman 1986), Central Ama- al 1997), Uganda (Vonesh 2001), and al 2007) sampling locations revealed an increase in the number of Results and discussion FEH and SAH P regius immediately after rain This study is in agreement with previ- ous studies that seasonal variation of anuran populations is infiuenced by rainfall pattern (Das 1996; Weeraward- hena regius (Fig 2) were ob- et al 2004) Our data indicates that during the rainy period (monsoon and inter-monsoonal), the served from six habitat types during the survey The amphibian-reptile-conservation.org al In the present study, analysis of rainfall patterns of the 90% RH + 5% RH in P to lay their direct develop- the Southeast region of Brazil (Van Sluys et range) respectively of 143 individuals of are important 2005; Karunarathne and Amaras- observed individuals of A total mm) the other hand, relationships zonia (Tocher et humidity (RH), which were recorded -r mm) The canopy cover (>70%) characteristics such as in forests of Costa using a thermometer (-20-100 °C, + 0.5 °C) and hygrometer (+ layer (20 provide the most pre- layer (20 and also tween the depth of leaf A structured data sheet was used to record data, including environment parameters such as air temperature litter layer can be related to different methods of quanti- fying at the site Diospyrose eb- dictory relationship of anuran communities and the leaf and searching the photographed, and released a thick leaf litter like provide a significant canopy regius al cm inghe 2007) According to Menin et A minimum branches, tree trunks, and logs within plots Specimens identified, P and a moist thick leaf 2200 hrs and trees, 120 SAH may and ferred habitats for of four people were engaged in the sampling which in- capture most demanding behavior of males during the adult phase of the life cycle (Ryan 1983; Pough et al temperature air 26 °C with a minimum of 19.5 °C and a boundaries (Fig drica and North Central Province) in approximately 1,000-1,500 November) and til cylin- 115 number of November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Habitat preferences of the 1 200 m 500 ft endemic shrub Human frog Pseudophilautus regius settlment and less forest area Forest area Grasslands Figure Map Figure Pseudophilautus regius (mature male) of study area amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 116 November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Dissanayake and Wellapuli-Arachchi Figure View of Forest Edge Habitat (FEH) Figure View of Seasonal Pond Habitat (SPH) amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 117 November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Habitat preferences of the Figure Grasslands gardens frog Pseudophilautus regius View of Grassland Habitat (GLH) Home Figure endemic shrub Seasonal Rocky areas Shrub lands Habitats Comparison of the percentage of Pseudophilautus regius found amphibian-reptile-conservation.org Forest edges 118 in each habitat type November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Dissanayake and Wellapuli-Arachchi Figure Average rainfall Average rainfall (mm) from October 2010 to March 2011 at the Mihintale Sanctuary, indicating Forest Edge Habitat (FEH) Figure (mm) from October 2010 to March 2011 at the Mihintale Sanctuary, indicating Home Garden Habitat (HGH) amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 119 November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Habitat preferences of the Figure endemic shrub frog Pseudophilautus regius View of Rocky Area Habitat (RAH) Figure 10 Inside forest: Dry mixed evergreen vegetation with good amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 120 leaf litter November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Dissanayake and Wellapuli-Arachchi individuals of P regius increase in er, FEH (Fig 7) Howev- our study was not conducted in February, although rained in that month This study a study conducted in is also demonstrates that also in agreement with dry season Additional studies are needed using differ- all ent sampling methods coupled with behavioral studies to amphibian showed wet season (Lehtinen determine the distribution of habitat et al regius across the forest P and through home garden during the dry season was observed used Mihintale Sanctuary 2003) It months (October and March) however, the percentage of the number of individuals of P regius were higher in HGH than in the rainy season (Novem- for daily activities including the forest In the dry vide various 8) This could be because human modified frog species like P regius HGH litter and soil dry-up, around water taps due pro- microhabitats that attract may ties although some moisture remains tats, P regius is this study was conducted grounds as strongly suggest that it pollutes the for- management authori- take necessary steps to minimize and mitigate these endemic shrub water during usage frog Long-term monitoring programs should be conducted to estimate the population fiuctua- solely found in disturbed habi- and could be because We residents adverse impacts in order to conserve the habitat of this or due to leakages However, this observation does not indicate that affect the breeding est fioor during the dry season forest to dispersal of some edge for collecting on the sanctuary boundary disturb the shrubs These activities can have an adverse effect on the population of P regius We also saw garbage accumulation in the sanctuary (Fig 11), which A high number of individuals may be because that villagers firewood Furthermore, were observed near garden water taps and also near bathrooms This Gar- den Habitat might provide suitable habitats during the species were edge-avoiders in the dry season but ber-January) (Fig Home it Madagascar where different patterns during the The present study not tion for a and implement suitable conservation measures if necessary short time period Further research conducted at least for a year could reveal possible relationships with relative Acknowledgments humidity to Dr Shirani Conclusions and recommendations —We are particularly grateful Nathanael (Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka) and Mr L J Mendis Wickramasingha (Herpetological Foundation, Sri Lanka) for supervision, unfailing encouragement, guidance, con- calm criticism and moral support to carry out our research We wish to thank Mr Niwanthaka Sanstructive, but The habitat type most preferred by P regius is Forest Edge Habitat (53%), whereas Rocky Area Habitat was Figure 11 Garbage accumulation amphibian-reptile-conservation.org in Mihintale Sanctuary 121 November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I Habitat preferences of the endemic shrub jeewa Thennakoon, Mr Shiran Fernando, Mr Jeevan frog Pseudophilautus regius Bossuyt, F, Meegaskumbura M, Beenaerts N, Gower DJ, Priyankara Karunarathna, Mr Chathura Sandamal, Mr Pethiyagoda R, Roelants K, Mannaert A, Wilkinson Asela Dinushan, and Mr Dushan Dharshanfor M, Bahir their sup- port with field work Dr T V Sundarabarathy and Dr S Mr Dinidu Hewage would like to making ka biodiversity hotspot Science 306(5695):479-481 thank the lUCN and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America Houghton Mif- Conant R, Collins this study a success assisted in developing the maps Librarian and D We M Milinkovitch Local endemism within the Western Ghats - Sri Lan- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri their support in Ng PKL, MC 2004 Manamendra-Arachchi K, Oommen OV, Schneider CJ, Wickramasinghe (Department of Biological Sciences, Lanka) for MM, S Boston, Massachusetts, flin, Das Suranjan Karunarathna for providing literature and the I JT 1991 Reptiles USA 608 p 1996 Resource use and foraging tactics in a south Director General of the Meteorological Department for Indian amphibian community Journal of South Asian providing the relevant meteorological data to achieve our Natural History 2(1): 1-30 We target ed by K G D de Aabeysinghe Finally, thank Craig Hassapakis (ARC) ways De also appreciate the valuable support provid- to enrich this who we Silva A 2009 Amphibians of Sri Lanka: graphic Guide also like to helped us in diverse lians work Common Kandy, Sri Silva A, Bauer Lanka 250 AM, Ahl E 1927 p 2004 The diversity of Nilgala Forest, Sri Lanka, with special reference to Rhacophorus Sitzungsberichte its herpe- tofauna Lyriocephalus 5(1&2): 164-182 Zur Systematik der asiatischen Arten der Froschgattung and Caeci- Austin CC, Goonewardena S, Hawke Z, Vanneck DV Literature cited Frogs, Toads Photo- Published by author Creative Printers and De- signers, De to A De der Silva A, The Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu (Berlin) sif, Goonewardena diversity of Sri S, Bauer A, Drake J 2005 Dumbara Mountains (Knuckles Mas- Lanka) with special reference to its herpeto- 15:35-47 Bahir MM, fauna Lyricephalus (Special issue) 6(1&2): 55-62 Meegaskumbura M, Manamendra-Arachchi Dissanayake K, Schneider CJ, Pethiyagoda R 2005 Reproduction and terrestrial direct development in Sri cramasingha Lankan shrub tribution of frogs (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae: PhUatus) The Raffles S Wellappuliarachchi SM, Wick- 2011 Diversity, abundance amphibians in the and dis- Mihintale Sanctuary, Sri Lanka 16th International Forestry Bulletin of Zoology (Supplement) 12:339-350 Figure 12 View of forest DMDSB, and Environ- in Mihintale Sanctuary amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 122 November 2012 Volume Number e56 | | | Dissanayake and Wellapuli-Arachchi Meegaskumbura M, Manamnra-Arachchi K 2005 De- ment Symposium, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Boralesgamuwa, Sri Lanka 43 p Dubois A 2004 Developmental pathways, speciation and supraspecific taxonomy in amphibians: Why are there so many frog species in Sri Lanka? Alytes scription of eight DR 2008 Amphibian Species of the World: Museum York, USA New of Natural History, York, An New Meegaskumbura M, Manamendra-Arachchi K 2011 Two new Philautus) from Sri Lanka Zootaxa 2747:1-18 An Version 5.5 American Museum New York, New York, USA [On- A data acquisition techniques in monitoring amphibian 2007 Obser- and Pethiyagoda 2005 (Am- MonaraLanka Russian Journal of Herpe- gala District in Sri 369-378 DMSS, Abeywardena UTI, Asela MDC, Kekulandala LDCB 2008 A preliminary survey of TL.1992 Behavioral energetics Amphibian fauna in Nilgala Forest area and its vicinity, Monaragala District in Sri Lanka Herpetological Conservation and Biology 3(2):264-272 Lehtinen RM, Ramanamanjato J, Raveloarison JG 2003 Edge effects and extinction proneness in a herpetofauna from Madagascar Biodiversity and Conservation work of taxonomic reassignment of the genera Aquixalus, Chiromantis, nity: forest: La Mexicana (Nueva herpeto- Selva, Costa Serie) 15:1- at Ilha In: Tropical Eorest Remnants: Grande, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil Austral Ecology 32(3):254-260 71 Manamendra-Arachchi K, Pethiyagoda R 2005 The Sri Lankan shrub frog of the genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae), with description of 27 species A ten-year study Ecology, 48(1):302-312 fauna of an ecotropical rain on a Central Amazonian frog commu- Management and Conservation of Eragmented Communities Editors, Laurance WE, Bierregaard RO University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA 124-137 VanSluys M, Vrcibradic D, Alves MAS, Bergallo HG, Rocha CFD 2007 Ecological parameters of the leaflitter frog community of an Atlantic Rainforest area frame- and Evolution litter in a Tocher MD, Gascon C, Zimmerman BL 1997 Fragmen- species within Lieberman SS 1986 Ecology of the leaf communication 37(2):261-272 Rhacophorus and Philautus Molecular Phylogenetics selection and Neotropical frog, Physalaemuspustulosus Evolution tation effects A Environmental 395-436 Ryan MJ.1983 Sexual Bain RH, Zhao E, Zhang Y 2008 Molecu- Rica Acta Zoologica USA Illinois, 12(7):1357-1370 phylogeny of Rhacophoridae (Anura): In: Physiology of the Amphibians Editors, Feder ME, Burggren WW University of Chicago Press, Chicago, the lar McCullough DR, Barrett RH Elsevier Publishers LTD, Barking, Essex, England Rough EH, Magnusson WE, Ryan MJ, Wells KD, Taigen Karunarathna J, Popula- tions Editors, Scientific Che Wildlife 2001: reptile populations In: phibia: Ranidae: Rhacophorinae) in Nilgala, J, Ama- Ecology 17(2): 86-91 Peterson CR, Dorcas ME 1992 The use of automated implications for fau- tology 14(2):133-136 Li 2007 zonia: Mesoscale spatial patterns Journal of Tropical vations on the breeding behavior of Philautus regius & F of terrestrially reproducing anurans in Central nal restoration Biotropica 24(3):43 1-439 Manamendra-Arachchi Lanka Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sci- Topographic and edaphic effects on the distribution leaf litter herpe- DMSS, Amarasinghe AAT of foam-nesting tree frogs endemic to Menin M, Lima AR, Magnusson WE, Waldez tofauna in abandoned cacao plantations and primary Karunarathna J, ences) 39(2):75-94 Conservation Biology 14(1):314-317 Some new genus Sri Gibbs JR 2000 Wetland loss and biodiversity conserva- rain forest in Costa Rica: Bowatte G, Schneider CJ 2010 Taruga (Anura: Rhacophoridae), Available: research.amnh.org/herpetology/am- Heinen JH 1992 Comparisons of the S, Manamendra-Arachchi K, Pethiyagoda R, Hanken the World: phibia/php [Accessed:26 September 2012] tion species of shrub frogs (Rhacophoridae: Meegaskumbura M, Meegaskumbura of Natural History, line] Zootaxa 2122:51-68 ka 2012 ] Online Reference Lanka The goda R 2009 Two new species of shrub frogs (Rhacophoridae: Philautus) from the lowlands of Sri Lan- [Online] Available: research.amnh.org/ DR 2011 Amphibian Species of Sri of Zoology (Supplement) 12:305-338 Meegaskumbura M, Manamendra-Arachchi K, Pethiya- herpetology/amphibia/php [Accessed: 26 September Frost from Raffles Bulletin Online Reference Version 5.2 (15 July 2008) Ameri- can species of shrub frogs (Rani- dae: Rhacophorinae: Philautus) 22(l&2):19-37 Frost new Vonesh JR 2001 Patterns of richness and abundance a tropical African leaf-litter herpetofauna Biotropica new 33(3):502-510 Amarasinghae US, Kotagama SW 2004 Activity pattern and environmental variation Weerawardhena The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (Supplement) 12:163-303 Meegaskumbura M, Bossuyt F, mendra-Arachchi K, Bahir Pethiyagoda R, Mana- MM, Schneider CJ 2002 Sri Lanka: Milinkovitch in S, of microhabitats of the six-toed green frog Euphlyc- MC, tis An amphibian hotspot hexadactylus Lesson 1834 (Anura-Ranidae) in Sri Lanka Lyriocephalus 5(1&2):111-129 Science 298(5592):379 amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 123 November 2012 Volume Number e56 | | | endemic shrub Habitat preferences of the frog Pseudophilautus regius Yu G, Rao D, Yang J, Zhang M 2008 Phylogenetic relationships among Rhacophorinae (Rhacophoridae, Anura, Amphibia), with an emphasis on the Chinese species Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153(4):733-749 Received: 26 January 2012 Accepted: 30 April 2012 Published: November 2012 Duminda S B Dissanayake is a Sri Lankan undergraduate student pursuing a B.Sc (Special) degree in the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale Duminda began reptiles, and 2009 with a focus on ecology and behavior of amphibians, leisure time photographing wildlife and lending his support to his career in wildlife research in birds He is keen on spending his wildlife conservation Supun Mindika Wellappuli-Arachchi is an undergraduate eries student pursuing a B.Sc (Special) degree in Fish- and Aquaculture, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale His passion focused on nature from a very young age which subsequently led him in 2007 to a career in wildlife research (fish biology) His area of interest has now widened to include ecology and behavior of amphibians, reptiles, and birds as well and wildlife photography He is dedicated to conservation of biodiversity of Sri Lanka amphibian-reptile-conservation.org 124 November 2012 Volume Number e56 I I I CONTENTS Administration, journal information (Instructions to Authors), and copyright notice Peter Janzen and Malaka Bopage ^The herpetofauna of a small Inside front cover and unprotected patch of tropical rainforest Lanka Krishan Ariyasiri, Gayan Bowatte, Udeni Menike, Suyama Meegaskumbura, and Madhava MeegaskumBURA Predator-induced plasticity in tadpoles of Polypedates cruciger (Anura: Rhacophoridae) Gayan Bowatte and Madhava Meegaskumbura Morphology and ecology of Microhyla rubra (Anura: Microhylidae) tadpoles from Sri Lanka Walter R Erdelen Conservation of biodiversity in a hotspot: Sri Lanka’s amphibians and reptiles Indika Peabotuwage, I Nuwan Bandara, Dinal Samarasinghe, Nirmala Perera, Majintha Madawala, Chamara Amarasinghe, H K Dushantha Kandambi, and D M S Suranjan Karunarathna Range extension for Duttaphrynus kotagamai (Amphibia: Bufonidae) and a preliminary checklist of herpetofauna from the Uda Maliboda Trail in Samanala Nature Reserve, Sri Lanka W Madhava S Botejue and Jayantha Wattavidanage Herpetofaunal diversity and distribution in Kalugala proposed forest reserve, Western province of Sri Lanka Herpetofauna V A M P K Samarawickrama, D R N S Samarawickrama, and Shalika Kumburegama in the Kaluganga upper catchment of the Knuckles Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka A A Thasun Amarasinghe, Franz Tiedemann, and D M S Suranjan Karunarathna Calotes nigrilabris Peters, 1860 (Reptilia: Agamidae: Draconinae): a threatened highland agamid lizard in Sri Fanka in Morningside, Sri — — — Imesh Nuwan Bandara ^Territorial and site fidelity I 14 22 33 52 65 81 90 behavior of Lyriocephalus scutatus (Agamidae: Draconinae) lOI Lanka Duminda S B Dissanayake and S M Wellapuli-Arachchi Habitat preferences of the endemic shrub frog Pseudophilautus re gins (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda 2005) at Mihintale Sanctuary, Sri Lanka 114 in Sri Back cover Table of Contents volume 2012 NUMBER ... official journal website at: http:/ /amphibian- reptile- eonservation.org Amphibian & Reptile Conservation aeeepts manuseripts on the biology of amphibians and reptiles, with emphasis on eonservation,... Authors at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Instruetions to Authors : website: http:/ /amphibian- reptile- eonservation.org/submissions.html © Craig Hassapakis /Amphibian & Reptile Conservation... immediately released as they are finished on our website; http:/ /amphibian- reptile- conservation.org; email: are.publisher@gmail.eom Amphibian & Reptile Conservation is published as an open access journal