Taruga fastigo

Taruga fastigo
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Rhacophoridae
Genus:	Taruga
Species:	T. fastigo
Binomial name
Taruga fastigo (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001)
Synonyms[1]
Polypedates fastigo Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001 Taruga fastigo Meegaskumbura, Meegaskumbura, Bowatte, Manamendra-Arachchi, Pethiyagoda, Hanken, and Schneider, 2010

Taruga fastigo is a frog. It lives in Sri Lanka. Scientists saw it for the first time in Morningside Estate, near Sinharaja Forest Reserve, 1060 m above sea level.^[1][2][3]

Body

The adult male frog is 35.3 to 39.5 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 54.8 to 63.9 mm long. The skin of the frog's back is brown or dark green in color. There is a mark on the frog's back that looks like an hourglass. There are bumps on the edges of the hourglass and near the rear end.^[2]

Name

Scientists named this frog fastigo because of its pointed nose.^[2]

Home

This frog lives in trees. It only lives in tropical forests on mountains. People have seen this frog between 1060 and 1300 meters above sea level. People have seen adult frogs in trees as high as two meters above the ground, not far from water that does not flow.^[3]

This frog lays eggs in pools of water that does not flow or move.^[3]

Danger

There are fewer of these frogs than there were. This is because human beings change the places where the frogs live. Human beings cut forests to get wood to build with and build farms,^[2] for example cardamom and tea farms. Sometimes people build small farms to grow potatoes. The chemicals meant to kill pests can also kill this frog. Climate change might also hurt this frog because it helps frogs from lower down in the hills live higher up in the hills with Taruga fastigo. The frogs from lower in the hills eat the same food that Taruga fastigo would eat.^[3]

At least two of the places this frog lives are protected parks: Morningside Forest Reserve and Baragala Forest Reserve.^[3]

First paper

• Manamendra-Arachchi, K.; R. Pethiyagoda (2001). "Polypedates fastigo, a new tree frog (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae) from Sri Lanka. Journal of South Asian Natural History". Colombo. 5: 191–199.

References

1. Frost, Darrel R. "Taruga fastigo (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001)". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
2. Dayupathi Eranda Nipunika Mandawala (March 12, 2021). Michelle S. Koo (ed.). "Taruga fastigo (Manamendra-Arachchi and Pethiyagoda, 2001)". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
3. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Long-snouted Tree-frog: Taruga eques". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 3.1. p. e.T58947A156586680. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T58947A156586680.en. 58947. Retrieved July 19, 2024.