Cophixalus pipilans

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Cophixalus pipilans
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Genus: Cophixalus
Species:
C. pipilans
Binomial name
Cophixalus pipilans
Zweifel, 1980 [2]
Cophixalus pipilans map-fr.svg

Cophixalus pipilans is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to northern mainland Papua New Guinea and occurs between Lae (Morobe Province) and the Adelbert Mountains (Madang Province). [1] [3] The specific name pipilans is derived from the Latin verb pipilio and means "peeping". [2] Common name Sempi rainforest frog has been coined for this species. [3]

Contents

Description

Adult males measure 16–19 mm (0.6–0.7 in) and adult females 18–22 mm (0.7–0.9 in) in snout–vent length. The head is moderately wide. The snout is obtusely pointed. The tympanum is obscure. The first finger is very short and without a disc, while the other fingers are larger and have well-developed discs. Toes have discs that are larger than the finger ones. No interdigital webbing is present. Dorsal colouration is brown to yellowish tan with black face mask. The middle of the back is sometimes much paler and clearly distinct from the sides. The groin, and anterior and posterior surfaces of the thighs, have a pink to reddish orange tinge. The throat and chest are gray with pale flecks. [2]

The male advertisement call is a series of rather soft, high-pitched beeps that are emitted in groups of 20–33. The dominant frequency is about 4900–5300 Hz. [2]

Habitat and conservation

Cophixalus pipilans occurs in lowland rainforest at elevations up to 700 m (2,300 ft) above sea level. [1] Specimens have been found in leaf litter in the daytime and on low shrubs (no more than 1 m (3 ft 3 in) above the ground) at night. Males typically call on humid nights after recent rain. [2] Development is direct (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage [4] ). [1]

It is a common species, but some populations could be threatened by logging. It is not known to occur in any protected areas. [1]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Cophixalus bewaniensis</i>

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<i>Cophixalus nubicola</i>

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<i>Cophixalus parkeri</i>

Cophixalus parkeri is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea where it occurs in the central mountainous region between Chimbu and Morobe Provinces. The specific name parkeri presumably honours Hampton Wildman Parker, an English zoologist and herpetologist to whose perusal Arthur Loveridge sent the holotype. Common name Papua rainforest frog has been coined for it.

<i>Cophixalus pulchellus</i>

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<i>Cophixalus shellyi</i>

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Cophixalus tagulensis is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and only known from the Tagula Island in the Louisiade Archipelago, east of New Guinea. It is only known from the type series of three specimens collected in 1956.

<i>Cophixalus zweifeli</i>

Cophixalus zweifeli is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to northern Queensland, Australia, and only known from the area of its type locality in the Cape Melville National Park. The species was named to honour American herpetologist Richard G. Zweifel. Common name Zweifel's frog has been coined for it. It is one of the five northeast Australian Cophixalus species that are specialized in boulder field habitats.

Oreophryne biroi is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to New Guinea and occurs on the north coast from Madang Province in Papua New Guinea to the Cyclops Mountains in Papua province, Western New Guinea (Indonesia). The specific name biroi honours Lajos Bíró, a Hungarian zoologist and ethnographer who collected the holotype. Common name New Guinea cross frog has been coined for it.

Cornufer gilliardi, commonly known as Gilliard's wrinkled ground frog, is a species of frog in the family Ceratobatrachidae. It is endemic to the Whiteman Ranges of New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago. The specific name gilliardi honors Ernest Thomas Gilliard, an American ornithologist who, together with Margaret Gilliard, collected the holotype.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Richards, S. & Zweifel, R. (2004). "Cophixalus pipilans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2004: e.T57783A11673766. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T57783A11673766.en .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Zweifel, Richard George (1980). "Results of the Archbold Expeditions, No. 103. Frogs and lizards from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 165: 393–434. hdl:2246/1047. [Cophixalus pipilans: pp. 404–408]
  3. 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Cophixalus pipilans Zweifel, 1980". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  4. Vitt, Laurie J. & Caldwell, Janalee P. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles (4th ed.). Academic Press. p. 166.