Common name: Samkos bush frog

Chiromantis samkosensis is a moss frog

Rhacophoridae

Rhacophoridae is a family of frog species, which occur in tropical regions of Asia and Africa. They are commonly known as shrub frogs, or more ambiguously as "moss frogs" or "bush frogs". Some Rhacophoridae are called "tree frogs"...

, found in Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

 in the Cardamom Mountains

Cardamom Mountains

The Krâvanh Mountains, literally the "Cardamom Mountains" , is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia, jutting into southeastern Thailand.-Location and description:...

. It was first described in 2007.

Physical description

Samkos bush frogs are relatively small with a 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) snout-to-vent

Cloaca

In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of certain animal species...

 length. They have a smooth body and translucent skin; therefore blood is externally visible. It has green-colored blood and turquoise-hued bones, a result of a pigment in waste products, biliverdin

Biliverdin

Biliverdin is a green tetrapyrrolic bile pigment, and is a product of heme catabolism. It is the pigment responsible for a greenish color sometimes seen in bruises.- Metabolism :...

.

Distribution

The species is found in the jungle terrain of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. It was found in Pursat Province in the Phnom Samkos area at 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) above sea level.

Conservation status

C. samkosensis is listed as "data deficient" by the IUCN. Human expansion threatens the species, notably via a new, wide, graded road

Graded road

A graded road is often the first standard road infrastructure that is developed in areas of sandy or rocky countries. Initially either a bulldozer or plough is deployed to drive a road bed surface along the available route...

 through the middle of the type locality. If the species occurs more widely, it might be influenced by other habitat loss reasons.

External links

• Images at Wildlife Extra