Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Order Anura Subfamily Dicroglossinae | |
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Similar Fejervarya sahyadris, Sphaerotheca, Zakerana pierrei, Zakerana nepalensis, Zakerana greenii | ||
Zakerana is a genus of frogs in the Dicroglossidae family from southern Asia (Sri Lanka, the Indian subcontinent including Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh), and Nepal and Bhutan. They are sometimes known as the South Asian cricket frogs. The genus was described in 2011 and named in respect of the founder of Zoology department in Dhaka University Dr Kazi Zaker Hossain.
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Taxonomy
Zakerana were split off from Fejervarya in 2011. This was the culmination of recognizing that Fejervarya (as known before) was paraphyletic and consisted of two different groups; this recognition had already developing some years before. The sister taxon of Zakerana is Sphaerotheca. Fejervarya, as currently defined, has a more eastern distribution than the southern Asiatic Zakerana, from eastern India eastwards.
Species
There are 20 species in this genus:
Phylogeny
The following phylogeny of Zakerana is from Pyron & Wiens (2011). 9 species are included.
Howlader, et. al (2016) gives a different phylogeny. 11 species are included.
Both phylogenetic trees place Zakerana mudduraja as the most basal species.