Hoplobatrachus tigerinus

Taxobox
name = Indian Bullfrog


image_caption = Indian Bullfrog from the Western Ghats
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Anura
familia = Ranidae
genus = "Hoplobatrachus"
species = "H. tigerinus"
binomial = "Hoplobatrachus tigerinus"
synonyms = "Rana tigerina" "Rana tigrina"

The Indian Bullfrog ("Hoplobatrachus tigerinus") is a large species of frog found in South and Southeast Asia.

Description

Vomerine teeth in two strong oblique series commencing from the inner anterior angle of the choanae; lower jaw with two not very prominent bony processes in front. Head moderate; Snout more or less pointed; "canthus rostralis" obtuse; nostril a little nearer to the end of the mouth than to the eye; interorbital space narrower than the upper eyelid; tympanum distinct, about two thirds the size of the eye. Fingers rather short, first extending beyond second; toes moderate, obtuse, nearly entirely webbed ; a much developed membranaceous fringe along the fifth toe; sub-articular tubercles moderate; inner metatarsal tubercle very variable, small and blunt, or (var. "ceylanica", Ceylon and S. India) nearly as long as the inner toe, strongly compressed, crescentic, shovel-shaped; no outer tubercle, a tarsal fold. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the ear, the eye, or a little beyond. Skin of back with longitudinal folds; a strong fold above the tympanum. Green or olive above, with dark spots; often a light vertebral line. Male with two subgular vocal sacs, conspicuous externally by folds of the skin on the sides of the throat; these regions generally blackish.Boulenger, G. A. (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.]

From snout to vent 6.5 inches.

Distribution

Found all over the Indian Subcontinent and Ceylon to the Indus and the base of the Himalayas, and from China to the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago.

The largest Indian frog. It is essentially aquatic, and is said, when frightened, to jump over the surface of the water much in the same way as on land.

Now an endangered species partly due to the fact that the frog was a case study from the high school level and due to indiscriminate use in dissections their Number went down. The Mumbai university thereafter banned use of Rana Tigrina in practicals up to the Graduate level.

References