







| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AMPHIBIA | ANURA | RHACOPHORIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Pseudophilautus maia |
| Species Authority: | (Meegaskumbura, Manamendra-Arachchi, Schneider & Pethiyagoda, 2007) |
| Synonym/s: |
Philautus maia Meegaskumbura, Manamendra-Arachchi, Schneider & Pethiyagoda, 2007
|
| Red List Category & Criteria: | Extinct ver 3.1 |
| Year Published: | 2008 |
| Assessor/s: | Madhava Meegaskumbura, Rohan Pethiyagoda |
| Reviewer/s: | Simon Stuart, Neil Cox |
| Contributor/s: | |
|
Justification: Listed as Extinct because it has not been recorded for over 100 years, and extensive searches over the last ten years have failed to locate this species. |
|
| Range Description: | This species was known only Poojagodde (=Poojagoda) Estate, Ramboda, Sri Lanka (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007), but is now considered to be Extinct. Poojagoda is in fact a division of the Frotoft Estate, Ramboda (7°04’30”N, 80°42’15”E), a tea plantation approximately 1,400m asl (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). The Pedro Forest Reserve, which extends along a forested ridge bordering Frotoft Estate about 1 km north of Poojagoda, is now the only remaining undisturbed habitat in this area (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). However, extensive surveys of this forest have failed to detect this species (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). |
| Countries: | Regionally extinct: Sri Lanka |
| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Population: | Attempts to locate this species in the vicinity of the type locality in the period 1993–2003 have been unsuccessful, and it is now considered to be Extinct (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). It is known from only two specimens collected in 1876 or earlier (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). |
| Habitat and Ecology: | One of the specimens apparently had eggs attached to its abdomen, a form of brooding hithertoo unknown in frogs (Günther, 1876; Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). However, Meegaskumbura et al. (2007) give reasons for believing that this species in fact attached its eggs to leaves, as is also done by Philautus femoralis. This species presumably lived in montane forest and bred by direct development. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial |
| Major Threat(s): | Clearance of the cloud forest adjacent to Frotoft Estate in 1978 might have lead to the extinction of this species (Meegaskumbura et al., 2007). The clearance of this forest resulted in the extinction of Albizia lankaensis (Mimosaceae), a tree species formerly endemic to this site (Kostermans 1980). |
| Conservation Actions: | It has not been recorded from any protected areas. |
| Citation: | Madhava Meegaskumbura, Rohan Pethiyagoda 2008. Pseudophilautus maia. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013. |
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