The tadpoles of Murree Hills Frog Nanorana vicina (Anura: Dicroglossidae)

Abstract

The genus Nanorana, also called Yunnan Slow Frogs (Frank & Ramus 1995), belongs to the family Dicroglossidae. Murree Hills Frog N. vicina, is an endemic species of Southeast Asian uplands in Pakistan and India and was first reported by Stoliczka (1872) from Murree, Punjab Province, Pakistan. Later Rais et al. (2014) recaptured it from its type locality and described morphology of one juvenile female and one adult male. The species is listed as Least Concern in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species while the EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) score is 2.64. In Pakistan, it is reported from brook water springs and streams of Murree, Galiat (North Punjab), Ayubia (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Rais et al. 2014). Although the adult form has been characterized (Khan 2006; Rais et al. 2014), the morphology of the tadpoles have not yet been described. The current study aimed to describe external morphology and morphometry of tadpoles of N. vicina.

Tadpoles of the westernmost Himalayan spiny frog Allopaa hazarensis (Dubois and Khan, 1979)

“…Our tadpoles differ significantly from those of Nanorana vicina (Stoliczka, 1872), which is endemic to uplands in Pakistan and India. Compared to A. hazarensis, the number of tooth rows on the upper labia of the N. vicina tadpoles is lower (5 vs. 7 or 8; no difference on lower labia), and the submarginal papillae are not cumulated laterally (Gill et al 2020). Further, except for N. taihangnica, the keratodont row formula for the upper labia differs between A.…”

Morphological and molecular data on tadpoles of the westernmost Himalayan spiny frog Allopaa hazarensis (Dubois & Khan, 1979)

“…Our tadpoles differ significantly from those of Nanorana vicina (Stoliczka, 1872), which is endemic to uplands in northern Pakistan and India. Compared to A. hazarensis, the number of tooth rows on the upper labia of the N. vicina tadpoles is fewer (5 vs. 7 or 8; no difference on lower labia), and the submarginal papillae are not cumulated laterally (Gill et al 2020). Furthermore, except for N. taihangnica, the keratodont row formula for the upper labia differs between A.…”

First Comprehensive Tadpole Description of the Relict and Endemic Mountain Frog Chrysopaa sternosignata (Murray 1885) from Afghanistan

“…Our tadpole differs significantly from those of Nanorana hazarensis , and N. vicina (Stoliczka 1872), which are endemic to the Kashmir Himalaya ( N. hazarensis ), and uplands in Pakistan and India ( N. vicina ). Compared with N. hazarensis , the number of tooth rows on the upper labia of Chrysopaa is smaller (4–5 vs. 7–8; no difference on lower labia; Hofmann et al 2021b); in N. vicina the first two anterior tooth rows are continuous (Gill et al 2020), while in Chrysopaa it is only A 1 . In both, N. hazarensis and N. vicina , the oral apparatus is much more prominent than in Chrysopaa .…”