Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: ParaHoxozoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Olfactores
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Batrachomorpha
Classis: Amphibia
Subclassis: Lissamphibia
Superordo: Batrachia
Cladus: Salientia
Ordo: Anura
Familia: Ranixalidae
Genus: Walkerana
Species (4): W. diplosticta – W. leptodactyla – W. muduga – W. phrynoderma
Name
Walkerana Dahanukar, Modak, Krutha, Nameer, Padhye & Molur, 2016: 9234
Type species: Ixalus diplostictus Günther, 1876, by original designation.
References
Primary references
Dahanukar, N., Modak, N., Krutha, K., Nameer, P.O., Padhye, A.D. & Molur, S. 2016. Leaping frogs (Anura: Ranixalidae) of the Western Ghats of India: an integrated taxonomic review. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(10): 9221–9288. DOI: 10.11609/jott.2532.8.10.9221-9288 Open access Reference page.
Additional references
Dinesh, K.P., Vijaykumar, S.P., Ramesh, V., Jayarajan, A., Chandramouli, S.R. & Shanker, K. 2020. A new lineage of Walkerana (Anura: Ranixalidae) from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India. Zootaxa 4729(2): 266–276. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4729.2.7 Paywall Reference page.
Walkerana is a genus of frogs in the family Ranixalidae.[1][2] The genus is endemic to the Western Ghats in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India.[2] It was erected in 2016 to host three species of Indirana that represented a genetically and morphologically distinct clade within the then broadly defined Indirana.[1] Until Walkerana muduga was described in 2020, the genus was only known from the southernmost part of the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap.[3]
Etymology
This genus is named for Sally Walker, conservationist from the Zoo Outreach Organisation.[1] The genus was then renamed into Sallywalkerana because of homonymy with the cricket genus Walkerana Otte and Perez-Gelabert, 2009, but the latter may be nomen nudum.[2]
Description
Walkerana is genetically distant clade within the family Ranixalidae. It differs from its sister taxon Indirana in having extremely reduced webbing, with one phalange free of webbing on first and second toes (none in Indirana), and three phalanges free on the fourth toe (2–2½ in Indirana). Furthermore, the first finger is shorter than the second one in Walkerana, while in Indirana (with the exception of I. leithii) they are of equal length or the first finger is longer than the second.[1]
Species
There are four recognized species:[2][3]
Walkerana diplosticta (Günther, 1876)
Walkerana leptodactyla (Boulenger, 1882)
Walkerana muduga Dinesh, Vijayakumar, Ramesh, Jayarajan, Chandramouli, and Shanker, 2020
Walkerana phrynoderma (Boulenger, 1882)
Dinesh and colleagues have identified one additional species based on one specimen from north of the Palghat Gap, but did not describe it because of the poor preservation of the specimen in question.[3]
Walkerana phrynoderma
References
Dahanukar, Neelesh; Modak, Nikhil; Krutha, Keerthi; Nameer, P. O.; Padhye, Anand D. & Molur, Sanjay (2016). "Leaping frogs (Anura: Ranixalidae) of the Western Ghats of India: An integrated taxonomic review". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 8 (10): 9221–9288. doi:10.11609/jott.2532.8.10.9221-9288.
Frost, Darrel R. (2020). "Walkerana Dahanukar, Modak, Krutha, Nameer, Padhye, and Molur, 2016". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
Dinesh, K.P.; Vijayakumar, S.P.; Ramesh, Vijay; Jayarajan, Aditi; Chandramouli, S.R. & Shanker, Kartik (2020). "A deeply divergent lineage of Walkerana (Anura: Ranixalidae) from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India". Zootaxa. 4729 (2): 266–276. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4729.2.7. PMID 32229864. S2CID 213656373.
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