Raorchestes annandalii (Boulenger, 1906)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Rhacophoridae > Subfamily: Rhacophorinae > Genus: Raorchestes > Species: Raorchestes annandalii

Ixalus annandalii Boulenger, 1906, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Ser. 2, 2: 385. Syntypes: BMNH 1947.2.26.57–58 (formerly 1906.8.10.39–40) according to Bossuyt and Dubois, 2001, Zeylanica, 6: 38, who designated BMNH 1947.2.26.58 (formerly 1906.8.10.40) as lectotype and (on page 81–82) redescribed. the specimen. Type locality: "E. Himalayas, at Kurseong, altitude 5,000 feet", India.

Ixalus annandalei — Annandale, 1908, Rec. Indian Mus., 2: 305. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Rhacophorus (Philautus) annandalii — Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 53, 71.

Philautus annandalii — Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 451.

Philautus (Philautus) annandalii — Bossuyt and Dubois, 2001, Zeylanica, 6: 38.

Pseudophilautus annandalii — Li, Che, Murphy, Zhao, Zhao, Rao, and Zhang, 2009, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 53: 519.

Raorchestes annandalii — Biju, Shouche, Dubois, Dutta, and Bossuyt, 2010, Curr. Sci., Bangalore, 98: 1120, by implication.

Common Names

Coppersmith Frog (Annandale, 1908, Rec. Indian Mus., 2: 305).

Himalaya Bubble-nest Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 111).

Annandale's Bush Frog (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 66; Schleich, Anders, and Kästle, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 80; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 94; Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 95).

Himalayan Foam Nesting Frog (Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 91).

Himalayan Bush Frog (Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 13).

Distribution

Restricted to Sikkim (Ravangla) and Darjeeling (Rock Garden Waterfall), West Bengal, India and and eastern Nepal; Bhutan record requires confirmation. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: India, Nepal

Likely/Controversially Present: Bhutan

Comment

Very similar to Philautus parvulus according to Bossuyt and Dubois, 2001, Zeylanica, 6: 38. See comment under Raorchestes shillongensis. Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 148, provided a brief account. Anders, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 317–319, provided an account, figure, and map for the Nepal population. See brief account by Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 91. Sarkar, Biswas, and Ray, 1992, State Fauna Ser., 3: 90, provided a brief account for West Bengal, India. Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 74, provided relevant literature and range. Ao, Bordoloi, and Ohler, 2003, Zoos' Print J., 18: 1117–1125, provided a specific locality for Nagaland, northeastern India. Sarkar and Ray, 2006, In Alfred (ed.), Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, Part 1: 307, provided a brief report for Arunachal Pradesh. Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 95, provided a brief characterization (as Philautus annandalii) and a photograph. See Shah and Tiwari, 2004, Herpetofauna Nepal: 77, for brief account (as Philautus annandalii). Wangyal, Bower, Sherub, Tshewang, Wangdi, Rinchen, Puntsho, Tashi, Koirala, Bhandari, Phuntsho, Koirala, Ghalley, Chaida, Tenzin, Powrel, Tshewang, Raika, Jamtsho, Kinley, Gyeltshen, Tashi, Nidup, Wangdi, Phuentsho, Norbu, Wangdi, Wangchuk, Tobgay, Dorji, and Das, 2020, Herpetol. Rev., 51: 794, tentatively identified a photograph as of this species from Samtse District, Bhutan, although this requires confirmation. Khatiwada, Wang, Zhao, Xie, and Jiang, 2021, Asian Herpetol. Res., 12: 1–35, discussed the genetics of the Nepal population. Mandal, Tamang, Subba, Rai, De, Pradhan, Deuti, Chaubey, and Tamang, 2025, Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta, 78: 148–162, reported on morphology, habitat, and distribution in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal, India. Boruah, Deepak, and Das, 2025, Vert. Zool., Senckenberg, 75: 517–625 (account on 611–613) reviewed the literature, distribution (including a dot map for India), morphology, and systematics of the species, with critical discussions of earlier literature, including rejection of previous records from Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh (as now assignable to other species) and regarding the record from Bhutan as requiring genetic confirmation. They also assigned this species to their Raorchestes annadalii group. 

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