Polypedates cruciger Blyth, 1852
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Polypedates cruciger (commonly known as the Sri Lanka whipping frog or common hour-glass tree-frog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to Sri Lanka. It has been osbserved as high as 1600 meters above sea level.
This frog can tolerate different habitats, including secondary forest, banana farms, gardens, and buildings. Scientists have not seen this frog in primary forest.
Scientists say this frog is not in danger of dying out because of its large range and tolerance to altered habitat.
Scientists used to think frog was conspecific with Polypedates pseudocruciger, which lives in India's Western Ghat mountains.
Wikipedia contributors, Polypedates cruciger; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T17:53:27.514233+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Polypedates cruciger Blyth, 1852
- Name authority
- Blyth, 1852
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Rhacophoridae
- Genus
- Polypedates
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyRhacophoridae Hoffman, 1932
- subfamilyRhacophorinae Hoffman, 1932
- genusPolypedates Tschudi, 1838
- speciesPolypedates cruciger Blyth, 1852
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Polypedates. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Polypedates hecticus Peters, 1863 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates impresus Yang, 2008 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates insularis Das, 1995 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates leucomystax (Gravenhorst, 1829) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates macrotis (Boulenger, 1891) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates maculatus (Gray, 1830) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates megacephalus Hallowell, 1861 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates occidentalis Das & Dutta, 2006 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates otilophus (Boulenger, 1893) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates ranwellai Wickramasinghe, Munindradasa & Fernando, 2012 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates subansiriensis Mathew & Sen, 2009 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Polypedates taeniatus (Boulenger, 1906) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Polypedates biscutiger Peters, 1871 Peters, 1871 | synonym |
| Rhacophorus cruciger (Blyth, 1852) (Blyth, 1852) | synonym |
| Rhacophorus cruciger cruciger (Blyth, 1852) (Blyth, 1852) | synonym |
| Rhacophorus leucomystax cruciger (Blyth, 1852) (Blyth, 1852) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=665597 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4LD44. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.