Murree Hill’s frog Paa vicina  FACT FILE: Local Name: Maree maindak  (Urdu) Family: RANIDAE Genus: Paa Status: Rare and restricted Warning: None    Photo Credit: Image not Available     Description and Biology: Naris a little nearer to the eye; tympanum indistinct; first finger as long as second; toes half webbed; outer metatarsal tubercle reduced, inner narrow, feebly developed; body dorsum tuberculate.   Habitat, Distribution and Status: Stoliczka (1872b) reported this frog from fountain water in Murree, alpine Punjab, Pakistan. A single specimen was collected by Mertens (1969a) from the area bordering Azad Kashmir and assigned to Paa pleskei, which was later identified as Paa vicina by Dubois (1976). 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) Paa vicina   () 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.