Raorchestes chalazodes: Difference between revisions

| status = CRVU | status_system = IUCN3.1

'''''Raorchestes chalazodes''''' ('''Chalazodes bubble-nest frog''', '''white-spotted bush frog''', or '''Günther's bush frog''') is a species of critically endangered [[frog]] in the family [[Rhacophoridae]]. ''Raorchestes chalazode''s is a nocturnal and arboreal species found in the understorey of tropical moist evergreen forest and is [[Endemism|endemic]] to the [[Western Ghats]] of [[India]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=IUCN |date=2004-04-30 |title=Raorchestes chalazodes: S.D. Biju, Sushil Dutta, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, S.P. Vijayakumar, Chelmala Srinivasulu: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T58829A11847257 |url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/58829/0 |language=en |doi=10.2305/iucn.uk.2004.rlts.t58829a11847257.en|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=frost>{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/?action=names&taxon=Raorchestes+chalazodes |title=''Raorchestes chalazodes'' (Günther, 1876) |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2013 |work=Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=14 July 2013}}</ref> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''chalazodes'' is composed of the Greek word χάλαζα (''chalaza'') meaning "lump" and ''-odes'' for the derived adjective, reflecting white granulation of the body.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x | title=Systematics and phylogeny ofPhilautus ''Gistel'', 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of 12 new species | year=2009 | last1=Biju | first1=S. D. | last2=Bossuyt | first2=Franky | journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume=155 | issue=2 | pages=374–444 | doi-access=free }}</ref> It has been observed between 1200 and 1600 meters above sea level.<ref name=IUCN />

The original holotype was collected in 1876 by Colonel Richard Henry Beddome in Travancore and given to Albert C. L. G. Günther. Before its rediscovery in 2011 in the Upper Kodayar Region in Tamil Nadu, the species was thought to be extinct. ''Raorchestes chalazodes'' make their oviposition sites in the internodes of the ''[[Ochlandra travancorica]]'' species of [[bamboo]], where the adult male will take care of the egg clutch. ''Raorchestes chalazode''s is also the only species in its genus that is reported to exhibit parental care.<ref name="Sayyed-2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Sayyed |first1=Amit |last2=Padhye |first2=Anand |date=2020-01-01 |title=Natural history of Ghate's Shrub Frog, Raorchestes ghatei (Rhacophoridae), from the northern Western Ghats, India |url=https://journals.ku.edu/reptilesandamphibians/article/view/14405 |journal=Reptiles & Amphibians |language=en |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=205–210 |doi=10.17161/randa.v26i3.14405 |s2cid=241036207 |issn=2332-4961|doi-access=free }}</ref> It is now considered [[Critically Endangered|critically endangered]]vulnerable by [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]].

''Raorchestes chalazodes'' is found in the narrow region of the Western Ghats on the West Coast of peninsular India, where they are restricted to elevations over 1200 m.<ref name="Seshadri-2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Seshadri |first1=Kadaba Shamanna |last2=Bickford |first2=David Patrick |date=2017-12-14 |title=Faithful fathers and crooked cannibals: the adaptive significance of parental care in the bush frog Raorchestes chalazodes, Western Ghats, India |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-017-2420-3 |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |language=en |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=4 |doi=10.1007/s00265-017-2420-3 |s2cid=253808316 |issn=1432-0762}}</ref> It lives in the tropical and moist evergreen forest understory. More specifically, ''Raorchestes chalazodes'' are found in the endemic understory of the ''Ochlandra travancorica'' bamboo that is found in the area.<ref name="Seshadri-2017" /> This bamboo forms a shrubby habitat that often forms impenetrable clumps next to stream banks, which offers protection.<ref name="Seshadri-2017" /> The frog cannot create its own bamboo holes and must depend on the Nilgiri palm squirrel (''[[Funambulus sublineatus]]'').<ref name=IUCN />

''Raorchestes chalazodes'' is currently classified as critically endangeredvulnerable by the most recent assessment by The [[IUCN Red List]] of Threatened Species in 20042023. ThisIt assessmenthas resultssuffered from howdeforestation theand distributionother ofhuman theencroachments. speciesScientists isthink severelythat, fragmentedlike andother howmembers theof speciesits experiencesgenus, ait continualis declinesusceptible into the extentfungus and''[[Batrachochytrium qualitydendrobatidis]]''. ofClimate itschange forestmay habitat.<refalter name="IUCN-2004">{{Citethe journalbamboo |last=IUCNecology |date=2004-04-30of |title=Raorchestesthe chalazodes:area, S.Dthreatening the frog further. Biju,The Sushilfrog Dutta,also Karthikeyanfaces Vasudevan,some S.P.threat Vijayakumar,from Chelmalathe Srinivasulu:annual Thepilgrimage IUCNto RedAgasthyamala ListBiosphere ofReserve, Threatenedin Specieswhich 2004:pilgrims e.T58829A11847257leave behind |url=http://wwwlitter and collect firewood.iucnredlist.org/details/58829/0<ref |languagename=enIUCN |doi=10.2305/iucn.uk.2004.rlts.t58829a11847257.en}}</ref>

The eggs of ''Raorchestes chalazodes'' are spherical and transparent and are connected to the inner walls of the bamboo internode through a mucilaginous strand. The eggs have a creamy white yolk where the ratio of egg yolk to outer jelly is rather small.<ref name="Seshadri-2015" /> After hatching, the froglets will remain inside the internode where they will vacate the oviposition site between 3 and 34 days after the first froglet emerging .<ref name="Seshadri-2017" /><ref name="Seshadri-2015-2">{{Cite journal |last=Seshadri |first=Kadaba |date=2015 |title=Rhacophorid Frogs Breeding in Bamboo: Discovery of a Novel Reproductive Mode from Western Ghats |url=https://www.amphibians.org/resources/library/froglog/ |journal=FrogLog |volume=23 |issue=116 |pages=46–49}}</ref>