In 1870 naturalist geologist Ferdinand Stoliczka of the Geological Society of India reported that Mr. W. Theobald collected this small treefrog from the Ataran river (16°41’N, 97°44’E) east of Moulmein [now Mawlamyine] in Tenasserim Province (Stoliczka 1870; Bossuyt and Dubois 2001; Annandale 1913).Theobald passed the specimens on to Stoliczka who described it as Ixalus cinerascens, a new species, soon after. The species was revised as Philautis cinerascens by Bossuyt and Dubois (2001).
Stolicka was struck by the finding of this species that far north, noting that the genus had previously only been seen in Ceylon, South India, and islands of the Philippines/Malaysia.The species is probably restricted to the Dawna Range of the Tenasserim Hills in Myanmar and into Thailand (Frost 2015).Annandale documented a specimen he collected from the west side of the Dawna Range at 3000 feet above sea level (Annandale 1908), although van Dijk and Ohler (2004) indicate that the species is known only from the types.
Stout, but small, the largest P. cinerascens specimen has a body length of 0.75 inches (19.1 mm; Bossuyt and Dubois 2001) and hind limb 1.25 inches long (Stoliczka 1890). Stoliczka recorded its structure and coloration as different (“peculiar”) from any species known at the time, ashy olive in color from above, with dark freckles and few tubercules and banding patterns on its back, between its eyes, and on its legs.Annandale (1913) notes that the specimen he found is darker than the type, thus the species encompasses coloration variation.Its belly and underside of the legs are pale brown-white, with dark speckles and dense polyhedral tubercules and warts on the upper eyelids.Its fingers have no webbing, but the toes are partially webbed (Stoliczka, 1870).
Nothing is known about the biology biology of this species; scientists assume that it breeds by direct development (van Dijk and Ohler 2004) based on what is known from related taxa. Although its population numbers are unknown, van Dijk and Ohler (2004) note that it occurs near the large Western Forest Complex of Thailand, which encompasses multiple protected areas.
Two or four specimen (all cataloged with same number ZSIC 2716) are thought to occur in the Zoological Society of India, Calcutta (ZSIC; vanDijk and Ohler 2004; Bossuyt and Dubois 2001).Though variously identified as “true Ixalus” and synonymized with Megophrys lateralis and M. major (Sclater 1892; Gorham 1966; Bourret 1942; see Frost 2015), it is most recently resurrected as Philautus (Philautus) cinerascens in a comprehensive nomenclatural review of the genus (Bossuyt and Dubois 2001). The taxonomic status of the name may be stabilized by reexamining the syntypes, or designating a neotype from topotypical specimens (Bossuyt and Dubois 2001; van Dijk and Ohler 2004).
Philautus cinerascens is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Burma.
Philautus cinerascens is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Burma.
