Raorchestes marki (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009)
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
The Mark's bushfrog (Raorchestes marki) is a critically endangered frog found only in the Nelliampathi Hills within the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. The species is named after Mark Wilkinson of the Natural History Museum, London.
Raorchestes marki are small, slender-bodied frogs. Males measure 21–23 mm (0.83–0.91 in) in snout–vent length and females 28–30 mm (1.1–1.2 in). The dorsum is dark grey and has a brownish concave stripe running from behind the eye.
Like other frogs in Raorchestes, this frog breeds through direct development with no free-swimming tadpole stage.
This frog is classified as critically endangered because its small range is subject to ongoing degradation associated with agriculture, tourism infrastructure, and industrialization.
Wikipedia contributors, Raorchestes marki; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:29:07.812361+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Raorchestes marki (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009)
- Name authority
- (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Rhacophoridae
- Genus
- Raorchestes
- 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
- genusRaorchestes Biju, Shouche, Dubois, Dutta & Bossuyt, 2010
- speciesRaorchestes marki (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Raorchestes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Raorchestes agasthyaensis Zachariah, Dinesh, Kunhikrishnan, Das, Raju, Radhakrishnan, Palot & Kalesh, 2011 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes akroparallagi (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes archeos Vijayakumar, Dinesh, Prabhu & Shanker, 2014 | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes beddomii (Günther, 1876) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes bobingeri (Biju & Bossuyt, 2005) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes bombayensis (Annandale, 1919) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes chalazodes (Günther, 1876) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes chotta (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes chromasynchysi (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes dubois (Biju & Bossuyt, 2006) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes shillongensis (Pillai & Chanda, 1973) | RhacophoridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Raorchestes signatus (Boulenger, 1882) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Philautus marki Biju & Bossuyt, 2009 Biju & Bossuyt, 2009 | synonym |
| Pseudophilautus marki (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009) (Biju & Bossuyt, 2009) | 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=1102251 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:6X4S4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.