Burrowing Frog or Malir Burrowing Frog Tomopterna breviceps FACT FILE: Local Name: Unknown Family: RANIDAE Genus: Tomopterna Status: Locally Common Warning: None    Photo Credit: Dr. Muhammad Sharif Khan     Description and Biology: This anuran is short, stocky, and toadlike; head broader than long, top flat; first finger longer than second, tips swollen; hind limbs short, tibiotarsal articulation reaching the axilla; toes half to one fourth webbed. Inner metatarsal tubercle long, compressed, flat, shovel-shaped; skin smooth, slightly varicose, with feeble longitudinal dorsal folds; tympanum distinct, as large as eye.   Color:  Dorsum olive golden, with a light yellow median line; a well marked large golden ocellus on shoulder on each side, continuing obliquely along flanks. Indistinct yellowish bars on limbs and jaws. Sometimes dorsum is faintly mottled. Ventrum cream, gular region black in breeding males. The eyes of juvenile Tomopterna breviceps are surrounded by a dark circle. Its broad head is reddish. Tadpole:  The tadpoles are pinkish brown with dark brown spottings. The tadpoles have stout body, the snout is high broad and rounded. The oral disc is anterior, the fringe of oral papillae does not extend on anterior and posterior labium. The posterior labium double row of papillae. Labial tooth row formula is 2(2)/3. The beak is narrow and finely serrated. The lanceolate tail has dorsal fin broader than the ventral. Body is light brown with large dark brown blotches, ventrum grayishwhite with fine brown dottings. The tadpole is found in small ponds and side pools along streams.    Total length of the tadpole 34-36 mm, tail 25-26 mm..   Biology: This frog is essentially nocturnal, emerging at dusk from of its burrow which it excavates in soft sandy soil with the help of its broad shovel-shaped inner metatarsal tubercle. At dusk these frogs swarm fields around Manshera city. It is insectivorous, and is often seen devouring centipedes and millipedes which are common in its habitat. Breeding season starts with the first showers of summer monsoons, when males gather in the shallow marginal waters of large ponds, spaced well apart from each other. The call is a quickly repeated "Awang, awang, awang" uttered 5 to 7 times in a burst.  The same habitat is a potential breeding site for other local amphibians, e.g., Bufo stomaticus, Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Holobatrachus tigerinus and Microhyla ornata. Occasionally, a relatively agile male of B. stomaticus or E.cyanophlyctis pairs with a Tomopterna breviceps (regardless of sex) which being docile, offers little or no resistance; the pair soon separates. Eggs of Tomopterna breviceps are large, enclosed in two envelopes of jelly, and laid in small batches which float and adhere to the grass blades. Tomopterna breviceps has a remarkable resemblance to the burrowing frogs of the genus Uperodon. Habitat, Distribution and Status: This burrowing frog inhabits relatively humid parts of Pakistan and is found in abundance along the Himalayan foothills in the northwest. The burrowing frog is distributed throughout India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In Pakistan it is reported from the Himalayan foothills, and extends into the Potwar Tableland. It has spotty distribution in the riparian system of Punjab (Khan 1976). Its colonies have been reported in desolate parts of the Cholistan Desert (Khan 1985a). Around Karachi, it is collected from the Hab and Malir River Valleys (Minton 1962, 1966). Possible reasons for amphibian decline: General habitat alteration and loss Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities Urbanization Prolonged drought Habitat fragmentation Local pesticides, fertilizers, and pollutants Long-distance pesticides, toxins, and pollutants Predators (natural or introduced) Tomopterna breviceps () Map Credit: Dr. Muhammad Sharif Khan     References and Credits: Written by M. S. Khan ([email protected]), Herp Lab, Rabwah, Pakistan Edited by vtv (2002-05-24 ) AmphibiaWeb database, University of California at Berkeley  ( http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/aw/index.html ) Nausherwan Ahmed ©1997-2004 Wildlife of Pakistan-All Rights Reserved.