Description

Diagnosis: Small body size (males 13.4-14.7 mm SVL, females 14.9-15.3 mm SVL); finger discs and toe discs both about 1.5x width of the penultimate phalanx (but see note in Comments section); first finger well-developed and bearing disc with circum-marginal groove; short narrow head with small eyes and moderately long snout; face not uniformly black; dark subocular blotch; dorsum and flanks brown with irregular darker markings; indistinct dark X marking on suprascapular region; abdomen paler than chin or throat; no black lateral band; no dark dorsolateral bar posterior to forearm insertion; very short call note of .067 s (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Description: Adult males measure 13.4-14.7 mm SVL. Adult females measure 14.9-15.3 mm SVL. Small narrow head with small eyes. Long snout, rounded and slightly projecting in lateral view, truncate in dorsal view, with gently rounded canthus rostralis, steep loreal region and nostrils much closer to the tip of the snout than the eyes. Tympanum small, with raised annulus. No supratympanic fold. Unwebbed fingers with average size finger discs and terminal grooves. Normal size first finger has a disc with a circum-marginal groove. Finger discs are 1.5x the width of the penultimate phalanx, except for that of Finger I, which is only slightly wider than the penultimate phalanx. Fingers do not bear obvious subarticular tubercles. Weakly developed metacarpal tubercles; inner metacarpal tubercle elongated and narrow while outer metacarpal tubercle is rounded. Hind legs are moderately long, with TL/SV = 0.51. Toes are unwebbed and have discs with circum-marginal grooves; toe discs are 1.5x the width of the penultimate phalanx (see Note in Comments section). Toes do not bear obvious subarticular tubercles. Inner metatarsal tubercle is narrow and elongated, while the outer metatarsal tubercle is absent. Dorsal skin is weakly pustulate. Smooth lateral surfaces and smooth ventral surfaces, except abdomen is somewhat granular. (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Light to medium brown on dorsum and sides, with irregular scattered darker marks. Dark subocular blotch on face, but not uniformly black. Ocelli may be present in the lumbar region, but are usually obscure. Unique indistinct dark X mark usually present on the suprascapular region. Lighter abdomen than chin and throat. Iris black with extensive silver flecking, or bronze-copper. A light vertebral stripe may be present. Light heel patches may be present. A pair of light pectoral spots may be present (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Papua New Guinea

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Endemic to Papua New Guinea. Found at elevations of 500-600 m ASL in the Bowutu Mountains. It might occur down to 50 m ASL, as calls thought to be from this species were heard at lower elevations. Generally in lowland wet forests in the interior, especially at the edges of forest clearings, and at the edges of the forests themselves. Found most often in the open perched on tree base or on logs within 30 cm of the ground; sometimes calling from the leaf litter; occasionally in tangles of fallen branches up to 1 m above the forest floor (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species is crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk). In the morning, calls start about an hour before dawn and continue until dawn breaks. During the day, males call on occasion, usually when in wet weather and secluded. In the evening, calls start a little before dusk and last for about an hour. Calls occur from leaf litter, open perches at the base of trees and on logs about 20-30 cm from the ground. Call is a series of peeps, ranging from 21-48 brief notes with an average note duration of 0.0676 seconds and a longer interval of 0.2379 seconds on average. Dominant frequency is 4815 Hz (range 3920-5650 Hz); the frequency is not modulated (Kraus and Allison 2009).

Comments
Note: The original paper contains contradictory information; in the Diagnosis section for Cophixalus linnaeus in Kraus and Allison (2009), it reads "finger discs smaller than or subequal to toe discs (3rdF/4thT = 0.78–1.11)."

However, in the description of the holotype, it reads "toe discs slightly smaller than those of fingers (3rdF/4thT = 1.05)" (Kraus and Allison 2009).

References

Kraus, F., and Allison, A. (2009). ''New species of Cophixalus (Anura: Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea.'' Zootaxa, 2128, 1-38.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2010 Cophixalus linnaeus <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7344> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Sep 14, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 14 Sep 2024.

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