Pseudophilautus lunatus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda, 2005)

Open encyclopedia reference

Pseudophilautus lunatus, commonly known as Handapan Ella shrub frog, is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. Scientists know it exclusively from the type locality: Handapan Ell Plains, in the eastern part of the Sinharaja World Heritage Site, 1270 meters above sea level. One adult female frog was found to be 40.9 m long in snout-vent length. This frog has black spots near the eyes and white color on the chin. The skin of the dorsum is red-brown in the middle of the back and gray-brown with black marks on the sides of the back. The ventrum is gray-white in color. The toes are dark gray in color, and the tops of the toes have some yellow color. Many parts of the frog's eye are brown in color. This frog is critically endangered.

Wikipedia contributors, Pseudophilautus lunatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:16:47.405096+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Pseudophilautus lunatus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda, 2005)

Name authority

(Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda, 2005)

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Anura

Family

Rhacophoridae

Genus

Pseudophilautus

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAmphibia
9. orderAnura
10. familyRhacophoridae Hoffman, 1932
11. subfamilyRhacophorinae Hoffman, 1932
12. genusPseudophilautus Laurent, 1943
13. speciesPseudophilautus lunatus (Manamendra-Arachchi & Pethiyagoda, 2005)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Pseudophilautus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 395 records assigned to Rhacophoridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1102298 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.

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:78GZM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.