Hylarana margariana, the Irowaddy frog, is a ranid frog collected and described by Scottish naturalist and curator of the Indian Museum, John Anderson, in the second of two expeditions to western Yunnan (1867 and 1875), which he accompanied as naturalist and naval officer.Anderson named the frog for Mr. Margary, a member of "Her Majesty's consular service" dispatched across China from Shanghai to join this second expedition in an attempt to smooth relations and avoid the "formidable difficulties" with local inhabitants experienced during the 1867 expedition.Margary, trained with knowledge of Chinese language and customs, and who, according to Anderson had great "interest in the findings of this expedition," was sent ahead of the rest of the party.He and four others were attacked and "murdered by the Chinese at Manwyne," compelling the expedition to retreat to Burma [Myanmar].There Anderson collected the two Hylarana margariana type specimens under stones in a stream feeding the Irawaddy river, close to what is now the Hkakabo Razi National Park in Myanmar (Anderson 1878).
The Irowaddy frog has smooth skin with dark olive brown dorsum and sides, black throat, yellowish belly.Type specimen are described as having snout-vent length of 1.6 inches (Boulenger 1882).Its limbs are banded with dark brown, with the pattern accentuated on the hind limbs by additional pale margins on the bands.It has a large tympanum and small, poorly developed volmerine teeth, long slender limbs and digits with some webbing on all toes, less so on fingers (Anderson 1878). Scientists assume that larvae of this species develop in montane streams similar and close to the type locality of this species, although H. margariana has not been recorded since its original description, and no other information is known about the Irowaddy frog (van Dijk and Wogan 2015).
Since its initial description this species has been reclassified in multiple genera, including Rana (Boulenger 1882), Lymnodytes (Mason 1882), Hylarana (Chen et al. 2005; Che et al. 2007) and Sylvirana (Frost et al. 2006), as documented in Frost (2015).
"Hylarana" margariana, commonly known as the Irrawaddy frog, is a species of true frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to Myanmar and may be present in China.[1][2]
"Hylarana" margariana, commonly known as the Irrawaddy frog, is a species of true frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to Myanmar and may be present in China.
