Stuart’s frog, Duttaphrynus stuarti, was first described in 1929 on the Putao plain in Kachin state of northeastern Myanmar, from a specimen collected by Dr. Murray Stuart (Smith 1929).A rarely encountered species, it has been recorded just a few times since, from northern Myanmar and into north-eastern India.Only a handful of individuals have been collected, from a small number of isolated locations, however Wogan et al. hypothesize that more sampling may well find that it occurs in the regions between. Herpetological surveying has found D. stuarti at altitudes between 556-640 m asl in subtropical forest, and also near small villages in areas where the forest is not pristine (Wogan et al. 2004). Surveys in northern Myanmar yielded several new adult individuals; Wogan et al. (2003) have redescribed the type specimen and added observations from these new specimens.
A medium sized frog (males 60.7-71 mm from snout to vent; females 61-76mm), D. stuarti is distinguished from its close congenitors by having no cephalic ridges, a distinct tympanum that is smaller than the eye, and well-developed, elongate parotoid glands running parallel from behind the eyes down the sides of the head. It has dark brown/tan mottled dorsal skin, bumpy and warty, sometimes with black marking.Its under surface and sides are a lighter, brownish-white.Males have robust front limbs.
With few observations and few collected specimen of D. stuarti to work from, its ecology and behavior isunknown; it is assumed to be a stream breeder with larval development (Wogan et al. 2003; Wogan et al. 2004).The taxonomic position of this species is also not fully understood.Wogan et al. (2003) placed it in the melanostictus group of genus Bufo.The large genus Bufo has subsequently been revised and split; in this process the melanostictus group has been raised to level of genus under the name Duttaphrynus (Frost et al. 2006).
Wogan, G.O.U., Win, H., Thin, T., Lwin, K.S., Shein, A.K., Kyi, S.W. and Tun, H. (2003). ''A new species of Bufo (Anura: Bufonidae) from Myanmar (Burma), and redescription of the little-known species Bufo stuarti Smith 1929.'' Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 54, 141-153.
Bufo stuarti is a species of toad found in Southeast Asia. Known only from northern Myanmar and northeastern India. The type locality is the Putao plains.[1]
Bufo stuarti is a species of toad found in Southeast Asia. Known only from northern Myanmar and northeastern India. The type locality is the Putao plains.
