Description
Cophixalus kaindiensis have a maximum male SVL of 27.7 mm (n=20 males) and females reach a maximum SVL of 27.0 mm (n=1 female). Head is moderately wide with slightly oblique and shallowly concave loreal region. The canthus rostralis is distinct but rounded and nostrils are much closer to tip of snout than to eyes. The internarial distance is considerably greater than distance from eye to naris (EN/IN, 0.75). The eylid is two-thirds the width of the interorbital space. The entire tympanic ring is visible but the tympanum is not prominet. The horizontal diameter is less than one-half of the eye. There is a faint W-shaped fold in the scapular region. The fingers are unwebbed with relative lengths of: 3>4>2>1; the first finger is more than one-half length of second. Toes are unwebbed with relative lengths of 4>3>5>2>1, with the fifth almost as long as the third. The toe discs are smaller than those on fingers. Maxillae and premaxillae are serrate without teeth. The sternum is cartilaginous; clavicles, procoracoids, and omosternum are absent.

In life, the dorsal coloration is brown. There is red in the groin and on the anterior and posterior surfaces of the thighs. Venter coloration is light gray with darker gray mottling.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Papua New Guinea

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

The type locality is heavily mossed forest at an elevation of about 2300 m near the summit of Mt. Kaindi in New Guinea.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Calling information for C. kaindiensis is as follows: series of “peeping” notes, each about 0.1 sec in length with a dominant frequency of 2700-3000 Hz. Twenty seven calls averaged 11 notes per call. Vocalization in this species is what differentiates it from all other species. This brings up the importance of ecological/vocal characters in the study of this group of minute, morphologically homogenous anurans.

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss

References

Zweifel, R.G. (1979). ''A new cryptic species of Microhylid frog (Genus Cophixalus) from Papua New Guinea, with notes on related forms.'' American Museum Novitates, 2678, 1-14.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2005 Cophixalus kaindiensis <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/2255> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 21, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 21 Nov 2024.

AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.