Osteological description of Indian Skipper Frog Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Western Ghats of India

The present study provides description of the osteology of Skipper Frog Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis. Seven adult specimens of E. cyanophlyctis from northern Western Ghats of India were cleared and double stained for studying osteological characteristics. The baseline description of osteological characters of cranial and post-cranial elements (paired nasals, tubular sphenethmoid, well-developed vomerine teeth, arciferal pectoral girdle, fan-shaped omosternum, cartilaginous W-shaped xiphisternum, hind limb with longest cylindrical humerus, V-shaped pectoral girdle and phalangeal appendages) provided in present study will help in further taxonomic investigations of the genus Euphlyctis. Further, the baseline information on osteology of Skipper frog will serve as a reference material for investigations related to malformations, either in this or related species. We also provide first observation on sacro-pelvic malformation in one of the studied specimens.