Scutiger boulengeri (common names: Boulenger's lazy toad, Boulenger's high altitude toad, Himalayan stream frog, and Xizang alpine toad) is a species of toad in the family Megophryidae. It is found in Nepal, India (Sikkim), and western China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Qinghai, and Tibet).[2]
| Scutiger boulengeri | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Megophryidae |
| Genus: | Scutiger |
| Species: | S. boulengeri
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| Binomial name | |
| Scutiger boulengeri (Bedriaga, 1898)
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| Synonyms | |
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Leptobrachium boulengeri Bedriaga, 1898 | |
Description
editScutiger boulengeri males measure about 45–55 mm (1.8–2.2 in) and females about 50–62 mm (2.0–2.4 in) in snout–vent length.[3][4] The head is flat, wider than long, and with a rounded snout. The eyes are protruding. The tympanum is indistinct; the supratympanal fold is present. The dorsum is olive or greenish-grey with numerous warts. The ventrum is yellowish. The fingers have no webbing and the toes have rudimentary webbing.[5]
Habitat and conservation
editScutiger boulengeri is an alpine species that lives near streams and lakes in grassland habitats at elevations of 3,300–5,270 m (10,830–17,290 ft) above sea level.[1] A healthy population has been found at an elevation of 5,270 m (17,290 ft) in the Gurudongmar Lake complex in Sikkimese Himalaya.[3] This is one of the highest elevations where amphibians have ever been recorded. They hibernate in loose soil from September to March or April.[3]
Scutiger boulengeri is not considered threatened and is ranked as a species of least concern by the IUCN Red List.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Annemarie Ohler; Pranabes Sanyal; Fei Liang; Michael Wai Neng Lau (2004). "Scutiger boulengeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T57607A11661516. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T57607A11661516.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Frost, Darrel R. (2016). "Scutiger boulengeri (Bedriaga, 1898)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ a b c Subba, Barkha; Ravikanth, G. & Aravind, N.A. (2015). "Scaling new heights: first record of Boulenger's lazy toad Scutiger boulengeri (Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae) from high altitude lake in Sikkim Himalaya, India" (PDF). Journal of Threatened Taxa. 7 (10): 7655–7663. doi:10.11609/JoTT.o4325.7655-63.
- ^ a b Fei, L. (1999). Atlas of Amphibians of China (in Chinese). Zhengzhou: Henan Press of Science and Technology. p. 80. ISBN 7-5349-1835-9.
- ^ Subba, Barkha; Ravikanth, G.; Aravind, N.A. (2015). "Reply to Global high-altitude limits for amphibians by Tracie A. Seimon and Anton Seimon (2015)". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 7 (11): 7851–7852. doi:10.11609/JoTT.o4405.7851-2.