Close on the heels of a sighting of the rare Indian painted frog in the thick forest of Bejjur in Adilabad in Telangana a month ago, two research scholars from the Government Degree College in Kalaburagi sighted the vividly coloured frog in the wooded area abetting Ainoli village in Chincholi taluk in Kalaburagi district a couple of days ago.
While the officials of the Forest Department of Telangana spotted the painted frog on a tree within the campus of Bejjur Forest Range office, the two research scholars, K. Manjunath and K. Ravikiran, during the research work on flaura and fauna of the forested area of Chincholi taluk in Kalaburagi district, chanced upon the rare frog which fell down from a tree branch.
According to Mr. Manjunath and Mr. Ravikiran, the species is also known as Sri Lankan Painted Frog or Sri Lankan Bull Frog. This narrow mouthed species is found in Nepal, Bangladesh, Southern and Eastern India and Sri Lanka.
The adult grows up to 75 millimetres in length from snout to vent, with females being slightly larger than the males. The colour of the dorsal surface is greyish black with a symmetrical pattern of reddish brown patches on either side, including a band of colour stretching from the back of eye to the base of the arm. The under parts are pale yellowish grey, mottled with black and brown. During the breeding season, males develop a dark throat patch.
They said that the frog, which is native to Sri Lanka and India, is a fossorial species, spending the day buried in leaf litter, loose soil or under fallen logs, but can climb into the branches of the trees. It is found mostly in dry forest, coconut and rubber plantations, wetlands and rice fields.
