Ornate Narrow-Mouthed frog or Common Ant frog Microhyla ornata  FACT FILE: Local Name: Bauna maindak (Urdu) Family: MICROHYLIDAE Genus: Microhyla Status: locally common Warning: None    Photo Credit: Dr. Muhammad Sharif Khan     Description and Biology: It is a small, slender-bodied frog. It hardly exceed 30 mm in snout-vent length. The fingers are slender, first much shorter than second. Toes long with slight rudiment of web. Color:  Body reddish olive, with a long dark brown mark along dorsal of body, extending from between eyes backward, narrowing on nape, widening above shoulders, narrowing then widening at back, sends a stripe to groin and another to thigh on each side. Tadpole:  Transparent, streamlined body; head depressed, body laterally compressed, countersunk mouth, no teeth on mouth disc. Tail long, more than twice the length of the body, fins transparent widest at midtail. Eyes laterally placed. Tadpole midstream microphagus. Schools of tadpoles swim at midstream feeding on planktonic bloom. Total length of the tadpole 78-80 mm, tail 50-52 mm. Biology: Microhyla ornata is very active. During day it hides under stones, logs, and heaps of vegetation, emerging at dusk, feeds on ants and other soft-bodied insects of small size. Breeding is triggered by monsoons, male call is "Brrrat, Brrrat, Brrrat", outbursts of astonishing volume considering the small size of the frog. Very small greenish brown tiny eggs are laid embedded in gelly that floats at surface of water. Habitat, Distribution and Status: A wide-ranging Southeast Asian species. From Malay Peninsula, Siam, southern China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Kashmir, Sri Lanka, and throughout India. It has recently shown to have wide distribution in Punjab, Pakistan (Khan, 1974, 1976, 1991a; Khan and Tasnim, 1987). 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) Microhyla ornata  () 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 ©1997-2005 Wildlife of Pakistan-All Rights Reserved. Updated April 14th, 2005