Walkerana muduga sp. nov. (Table 1, 2; Fig. 1,2,3,4,5) Holotype: ZSI / WRC /A/2211 (CESF 1607), an adult male (SVL 27.9 mm) collected by S.P. Vijayakumar and team in October 2010 from Muthikulam, (N 10.945; E 76.644) a high elevation site (1544 amsl) in the hill range Elivalmala / Elivalmalai located north of Palghat Gap. Paratype: ZSI / WRC /A/2212 (CESF 1606), an adult female (SVL 44.9 mm), collection data same as the holotype. Etymology: The new species is named after the “Mudugar” indigenous community of Palghat district, Kerala who speak ‘Muduga’ language (Menon, 1996). The species epithet is used as an invariable noun in apposition to the generic name. The suggested common name is ‘Muduga mountain leaping frog’. Lineage diagnosis: Walkerana muduga sp. nov. can be diagnosed phylogenetically as a member of the ‘ Walkerana clade’ (Fig. 2), and exhibits 5.7% genetic divergence from W. leptodactyla, 7.5% divergence from W. phrynoderma and 11.7% divergence from W. diplosticta at the 16S rRNA fragment. The species is highly divergent in morphology from all known species (see comparison section). Phylogenetic analysis also shows another undescribed lineage from the adjacent massif (north of Elival Mala), exhibiting high genetic divergence of 3.8 % for 16S rRNA (CESF 1554). However, due to the availability of only a single poorly preserved specimen (CESF 1554), we defer the description of this lineage. Description of Holotype ZSI/WRC/A/2211 (CESF 1607) (Fig. 2, 3). A medium sized species of Walkerana (SVL = 27.9 mm) with squat, raised body; head width (HW = 11.3 mm) sub equal to head length (HL = 10.3 mm); snout bluntly pointed (ES = 4.7 mm) in both dorsal and ventral view and more than 1.2 times of eye diameter (ED = 3.9 mm); canthus rostralis angular, loreal region concave, inter orbital space flat (IO = 3.0 mm) and sub equal to upper eye lid (UEW = 2.4 mm); nostrils oval, nearer to tip of snout than to eye; eyes relatively smaller (EL/HL = 0.37), protruding out of the head; tympanum (TYH = 2.2 mm) distinct below the supratympanic fold and 1.7 times of eye diameter; minute vomerine ridges present with 2 to 3 spinular teeth; tongue bifid with a raised papilla; symphysial knob weak. Fore arm slender (UAL = 4.7 mm) and sub equal to hand (PAL = 7.6 mm); fingers short and thin (dermal fringes distinct in the ventral view on the finger 2, 3 and 4); first finger shorter than second (f1 = 3.7 mm and f2 = 4.2 mm); finger tips with truncated enlarged discs with minute dorsoterminal grooves; fingers free without webbing between fingers; rounded subarticular tubercles moderate (one each on finger 1 and 2, and two each on finger 3 and 4); prepollex indistinct and palmar tubercle distinct, supernumerary tubercles absent. Hind limbs moderately long, strongly overlap when folded at right angles to the body and tibio-tarsal articulation reaches beyond the snout tip; femur length less than tibia length (FEL = 14.9 mm; TBL = 18.2 mm); foot length is 1.8 times more than the tarsus length (FOL = 14.9 mm, TAR = 8.1 mm), relative toe length I

Published as part of Dinesh, K. P., Vijayakumar, S. P., Ramesh, Vijay, Jayarajan, Aditi, Chandramouli, S. R. & Shanker, Kartik, 2020, A deeply divergent lineage of Walkerana (Anura: Ranixalidae) from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India, pp. 266-276 in Zootaxa 4729 (2) on pages 269-271, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4729.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/3632638