Description
Austrochaperina kosarek is a small member of its genus, the only specimen collected has a SVL of 21 mm (a male). A. kosarek also has short legs (TL/SVL 0.409) with flattened disclike fingertips with weak terminal grooves. Head is almost as wide as the body. The snout tapers to a sharply rounded tip when viewed dorsally and rounded in lateral view. The canthus rostralis is rounded with the loreal region sloping and slightly concave. Eyes are large and visible around border of maxillae when viewed ventrally. Relative finger lengths are: 3>4>2>1, with the first digit half the length of the second. Toes are unwebbed and have relative lengths of 4>3>5>2>1, with the first toe much less than half of the second. Supratympanic fold is weak; skin is smooth overall. Coloration on snout is gray with the tip almost white. Lateral portions of the snout are dark brown with pale spots on the upper lip. Dorsum is light brown with darker blotches. Front limbs heavily spotted. Chin and chest are dark brown with small light spots.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Only known from the type locality in Kosarek, New Guinea at 1400 m elevation on the north slope of the central dividing range of the Irian Jaya, west of Nipsam.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Nothing known.

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss

References

Zweifel, R.G. (2000). ''Partition of the Australopapuan Microhylid frog genus Sphenophryne with descriptions of new species.'' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 253, 1-130.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2004 Austrochaperina kosarek <http://amphibiaweb.org/species/6371> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jan 15, 2021.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2021. <http://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 15 Jan 2021.

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