Systematics and phylogeny of Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Anura, Rhacophoridae) in the Western Ghats of India, with descriptions of 12 new species Author Biju, S. D. Author Bossuyt, Franky text Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2009 2009-02-28 155 2 374 444 https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-lookup/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x journal article 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00466.x 0024-4082 5445358 PHILAUTUS CHARIUS RAO, 1937 ( FIGS 2 , 14D , 20 ; TABLE 2 ) Type material: Neotype , MNHN 1999.5597 , an adult male, SVL 29.0 mm, from the hills around Chikmalagur (i.e. Chikmagalur), Chikmalagur district , Karnataka , India ( Bossuyt & Dubois, 2001 ). Other material studied: BNHS 4420 and BNHS 4421 , two adult males, from Chikmagalur; BNHS 4422 and BNHS 4423 , two adult males, from Mercara; BNHS 4424 , an adult male, from Kottigehara; SDB 40213 , an adult male, from Muthodi ( Table 2 ). Diagnosis: Philautus charius can be distinguished from known congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) medium male adult size ( 27.2– 31.4 mm , N = 7); (2) dorsum with small horny spinules; (3) groin and posterior part of thighs uniform brownish black with large yellow blotches; (4) short head (HL/ SVL = 0.309 –0.345 , N = 7) . Philautus charius , P. coonoorensis sp. nov. , and P. griet form a strongly supported clade in our phylogenetic analyses ( Fig. 2 ). These three species can be easily differentiated from each other on the basis of the characters listed below. Philautus charius : (1) medium male adult size ( 27.2–31.4 mm , N = 7); (2) snout shorter than, or subequal to the horizontal diameter of the eye; (3) groin brownish black with yellow blotches; (4) posterior surface of thighs uniform brownish black with large yellow blotches; (5) relatively short hindlimbs, ShL/ SVL ratio < 0.5. Philautus coonoorensis sp. nov. : (1) small male adult size ( 20.7–23.8 mm , N = 5); (2) snout clearly longer than horizontal diameter of the eye; (3) groin light grey with dark-brown patches; (4) posterior surface of thighs dark brown with variable size of grey patches; (5) relatively long hindlimbs, ShL/SVL ratio > 0.5. Philautus griet : (1) small male adult size ( 19.7– 22.4 mm , N = 5); (2) snout shorter than, or subequal to the horizontal diameter of the eye; (3) groin light brown with minute white marbling; (4) posterior surface of thighs brown with minute grey spots; (5) relatively short hindlimbs, ShL/SVL ratio < 0.5. Description of the neotype : A detailed description was published in Bossuyt & Dubois (2001) . Variation: Measurements are given in Table 2 . Colour variation in life: dorsum usually light brown with various numbers of deep-brown irregular patches, a brown stripe between the eyes demarcates a triangular grey snout, loreal and tympanic regions light brown with black spots, a pair of greyish brown concave bands extending from below the level of the eye to the groin ( Fig. 20 ); iris light brown, encircled with thin greyish outer ring. Dorsal side of limbs with dark-grey cross bands. However, the groins and posterior part of the thighs are invariably uniform brownish black with large yellow blotches. Distribution and natural history: Chikmagalur, Muthodi, Mercara, and Kottigehara in Karnataka ( Fig. 14D , Table 1 ). These frogs mostly call from about 0.5 to 1.5-m high on the stems of shrubs.