The Herpetology Lab, Wildlife Management, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan has recently described the morphology of tadpoles of Murree Hills Frogs (Nanorana vicina). Prior to this, no detail of the species tadpole was available. The species is endemic to the highlands of Pakistan and India. The anteroventral oral disc, the dorsoventrally flattened body and the low tail fins exhibit typical characteristics of tadpoles of shallow and permanent lotic water bodies. The anteroventral placement of the oral disc and the keratinized mouthparts suggest a detritivorous and suspension-rasper feeding ecology. Muhammad Rais, one of ASA’s 2020 Future Leaders of Amphibian Conservation, is co-author of the paper, which can be found here.
Copyrights and Permission: Both paper and figure are copyrighted with Zootaxa (www.mapress.com/j/zt).
Source: Gill, S., Rais, M., Saeed, M., Ahmed, W. and Akram, A. 2020. The tadpoles of Murree Hills Frog Nanorana vicina (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa. 4759 (3): 440–442.
Figure Legend: Tadpoles of Murree Hills Frog (Nanorana vicina). Lateral (A), dorsal (B), ventral (C) views, and detail of the oral disc (D).