Cophixalus shellyi

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Cophixalus shellyi
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Genus: Cophixalus
Species:
C. shellyi
Binomial name
Cophixalus shellyi
Zweifel, 1956 [2]
Cophixalus shellyi map-fr.svg

Cophixalus shellyi is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and occurs in the New Guinea Highlands as well as in the Adelbert Range and on the Huon Peninsula. [3] The specific name shellyi honors Father Otto Schellenberger ("Shelly"), an American missionary and former professor in mathematics [4] who collected the type series. [2]

Contents

Common names

The common name Shelly's rainforest frog has been coined for this species. [3] [4]

It is known as gwnm sbmganpygak in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. [5]

Description

Adult males grow to at least 17 mm (0.7 in) and adult females to 20 mm (0.8 in) in snout–vent length; females appear to reach maturity at 16 mm (0.6 in). [6] The snout is obtusely pointed. The tympanum is very indistinct, and the supratympanic fold is very faint. The legs are relatively long. The fingers and toes bear discs that are relatively small. The first finger is very short and bears no distinctly enlarged disc. Preserved specimens are grayish brown dorsally. The side of the head is black. A faint, light mid-vertebral line may be present. [2]

Habitat and conservation

Cophixalus shellyi occurs in low vegetation of hill and montane rainforests, including formerly logged forests, at elevations of 1,100–2,900 m (3,600–9,500 ft) above sea level. Specimens have also been found in landslides, rockslides, and rocky areas. Development is presumably direct (i.e., no free-living larval stage). [1]

It is a locally common species that is not facing known threats. It is not known from protected areas. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Aphantophryne</i> Genus of amphibians

Aphantophryne is a genus of microhylid frogs found in New Guinea and in Mindanao, the Philippines. Originally described by Fry in 1917, Richard G. Zweifel considered in 1956 Aphantophryne synonymous to Cophixalus. The genus was resurrected in 1989 to house two new species in addition to the type species, A. pansa. A molecular study on the subfamily Asterophryinae in 2017 revealed that two species originally included in the genus Oreophryne were more closely related to Aphantophryne than to other Oreophryne, and were consequently moved to this genus. The study also revealed a number of undescribed species.

Choerophryne darlingtoni is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and found in the New Guinea Highlands. The specific name darlingtoni honors P. Jackson Darlington Jr., an American evolutionary biologist and zoogeographer. Common name Darlington's rainforest frog has been coined for it.

<i>Choerophryne siegfriedi</i> Species of frog

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Choerophryne variegata is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to West Papua, Indonesia, and is only known with certainty from its type locality, Digul River. It is assumed that most records from elsewhere refer to other, possibly undescribed species. As the species is only known from one specimen from its vaguely stated type locality, its ecology is essentially unknown, although it is presumed to be a rainforest inhabitant. No other specimen has been collected anywhere near the type locality. Despite all this, vernacular name common rainforest frog has been coined for it.

<i>Aphantophryne minuta</i> Species of frog

Aphantophryne minuta is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and is known from its type locality near Myola Guest House in the Owen Stanley Range, Northern Province, from another locality in the same province, Mount Tafa; only a single specimen is known from each locality. The specific name minuta refers to the very small size of this species. Common name Myola Guinea frog has been coined for it.

Austrochaperina adamantina is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to New Guinea and occurs in the Torricelli and Bewani Mountains in the West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. The specific name adamantina is Latin for "like a diamond" and refers to Jared Diamond, credited as the collector of the holotype and "great many other valuable herpetological specimens from Papua New Guinea".

<i>Austrochaperina aquilonia</i> Species of amphibian

Austrochaperina aquilonia is a species of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to the Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea. It is only known from two nearby locations in the Torricelli Mountains: Mount Somoro and from the village of Wilbeite. The specific name aquilonia is a Latin adjective meaning "northern" and refers to the range of this species in the north coast mountains of New Guinea.

<i>Austrochaperina kosarek</i> Species of frog

Austrochaperina kosarek is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to New Guinea and only known from its type locality, Kosarek, in West Papua (Indonesia). It is only known from one specimen collected in 1979. It has not been well-studied but it might be widespread in suitable habitat.

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<i>Cophixalus nubicola</i> Species of frog

Cophixalus nubicola is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and only known from its type locality, Mount Michael in the Eastern Highlands Province. The specific name nubicola refers to its cloud-swept habitat. Common name Michael rainforest frog has been coined for this species.

<i>Cophixalus parkeri</i> Species of frog

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 pipilans</i> Species of frog

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

Cophixalus riparius is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and occurs in the New Guinea Highlands in Madang, Southern Highlands, and Western Highlands provinces southeastward to the Morobe Province. The specific name riparius refers to the creek-side habitat from which many specimens in the type series were collected. Common name Wilhelm rainforest frog has been coined for this species.

<i>Cophixalus tagulensis</i> Species of frog

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>Sphenophryne thomsoni</i> Species of amphibian

Sphenophryne thomsoni, sometimes known as Thomson's toothless frog, is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and occurs in the southeastern peninsular New Guinea, Louisiade Archipelago, d'Entrecasteaux Islands, and Woodlark Island. It was formerly in its own monotypic genus Genyophryne. The specific name thomsoni honours Basil Thomson, a British intelligence officer, police officer, prison governor, colonial administrator, and writer.

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.

Oreophryne brachypus is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to the island of New Britain, in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Common name Gazelle cross frog has been coined for it.

Oreophryne notata is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and known from two localities, Ialibu, its type locality in the Southern Highlands Province, and Tabubil in the Western Province. It might occur more widely. The specific name notata is from Latin nota meaning a "mark" or "letter" and refers to the diagnostic U-like pattern on the lores.

Oreophryne wolterstorffi is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and only known from a single specimen collected from "Deutsch-Neu-Guinea", in what now is Madang Province. Common name Wolterstorff's 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 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Cophixalus shellyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T57786A152550325. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T57786A152550325.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Zweifel, Richard George (1956). "Notes on microhylid frogs, genus Cophixalus, from New Guinea". American Museum Novitates (1785): 1–8. hdl:2246/4848.
  3. 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Cophixalus shellyi Zweifel, 1956". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 196. ISBN   978-1-907807-42-8.
  5. Bulmer, RNH (1975). Kalam Classification Of Reptiles And Fishes. Journal of the Polynesian Society 84(3): 267–308.
  6. Zweifel, Richard George (1962). "Frogs of the microhylid genus Cophixalus from the mountains of New Guinea". American Museum Novitates (2087): 1–26. hdl:2246/3455.