Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus
Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus, also known as the sacred grove bushfrog, sacred grove bush frog or Similipal bush frog, is a critically endangered species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae.
| Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Rhacophoridae |
| Genus: | Raorchestes |
| Species: | R. sanctisilvaticus |
| Binomial name | |
| Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus (Das and Chanda, 1997[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Distribution and habitat
It is endemic to India and only known from the Kapildhara Falls near Amarkantak, in the Madhya Pradesh state and Gurguria, in the Similipal Biosphere Reserve (near or in the Simlipal National Park), Odisha state in south-eastern India.[3]
Its natural habitat is old growth tropical moist, semi-evergreen and mesic forest. It has been found underneath rotten sal (Shorea robusta) leaves, and in loose leaf-covered soil and inside rotten logs, close to riverbanks, and likely in tropical dry forest. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by harvesting of wood for subsistence purposes, infrastructure development for tourism, and fires.[1]
References
- Indraneil Das; Sushil Dutta; Karthikeyan Vasudevan; S.P. Vijayakumar (2004). "Philautus sanctisilvaticus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T58897A11846368. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T58897A11846368.en.
- Das, I. & S. K. Chanda (1997). "Philautus sanctisilvaticus (Anura: Rhacophoridae), a new frog from the sacred groves of Amarkantak, central India". Hamadryad. Madras. 22: 21–27.
- Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Philautus sanctisilvaticus Das and Chanda, 1997". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 20 January 2015.