Description
Litoria pinocchio is a New Guinea treefrog that was described from one male with a snout-vent length of 29.2 mm. The body is slim and long, with a length that is almost twice that of their tibia. From the dorsal view, the head is significantly wider compared to their body and their snout looks rounded. There is a fleshy rostral spike that begins at the tip of their upper jaw. The spike can vary from pointing forward, to drooping, to being flaccid. The canthus rostralis is marginally curved. The nares are at a shorter distance from the tip of their snout compared to the eye. The big eyes protrude out of their heads and the pupils are horizontal. The upper jaw juts out very slightly more than the lower jaw. The relatively small tympanum has an obvious annulus. While the skin on the back and limbs are completely smooth, the ventral skin is granular. There are small, circular tubercles on the sides of their torso. The relative finger lengths are III > IV > II > I, and webbing is present between every digit. The terminal finger discs are expanded and are wider than the toe discs, with obvious grooves. The nuptial pads are shaped approximately like tears. The relative toe lengths are IV > III > V > II > I. Similar to the fingers, there is fleshy webbing between the digits (Oliver et al. 2019).

DIAGNOSIS:

Litoria pinocchio can be set apart from all except for four other Melanesian Litoria by male L. pinocchio have an erectile rostral spike that is at least 2.5 mm in length and the species generally has a relatively slim body, big eyes and relatively small tympana. Litoria pinocchio can be differentiated from the remaining four taxa by the following ways: Compared to L. mareku, L. pinocchio is larger in size, has rostral spikes in males that are longer than it is wide, and has light to medium brown dorsum; Compared to L. havina, L. pinocchio is green and brown and has orange coloration in their groin; Compared to L. murco, they have relatively shorter legs and bigger eyes; Compared to L. pronimia, which is the species that they share the most size and appearance characteristics with, they have shorter limbs, wider tympanum, and differences in coloration (Oliver et al. 2019).

COLORATION:

Live L. pinocchio have dorsums that are light brown with some green and dark brown bands, flecking, and spotting. The rostral spike is green. The circular tubercles on the sides of their torso are green. The ventrum and the hidden parts of its thighs and axilla are yellow-orange. The webbing is opaque on both the fingers and toes. Their nuptial pads are brown. When preserved, the dorsal surfaces become light olive green and the transverse blotches on the dorsum are bluish-green. The rostral spike becomes blue and the venter becomes off-white with brown flecks near the lower jaw (Oliver et al. 2019).

VARIATION:

At the time of the species description only one male individual was. As a result, individual variation and sexual dimorphism cannot be assessed. However, it is believed that spikes are only present on males (Oliver et al. 2019).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Indonesia

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

At the time of the species description, L. pinocchio was only known from one site on the Foja Mountains’ southern slopes, which is located in northern Papua Province, Indonesian New Guinea. The individual was found in lower montane forest, between 700 - 1500 m above sea level. This species lives in undisturbed rainforests (Oliver et al. 2019).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Litoria pinocchio are thought to be oviparous like many of those in the family Hylidae, however, their clutch size and lifespan are not known (Oliver et al. 2019).

Male Pinocchio frogs inflate their nose tip upward when calling (Oliver et al. 2019).

It is assumed that adult Pinocchio frog’s diet primarily consists of insects. Predators of treefrogs, like the Pinocchio frog, include snakes, birds, carnivorous mammals, and fish (Smith et al. 2003).

Trends and Threats
At the time of the species description, L. pinocchio was only known from one individual at one site in the Foja Mountains in Indonesian New Guinea, which is a relatively inaccessible and undisturbed rainforest (Oliver et al. 2019). There’s no evidence that pathogenic amphibian chytrid fungi are present in the area. More surveys are needed to determine what threats this species faces (IUCN 2020).

Comments

ETYMOLOGY:

The species epithet “pinocchio” is an allusion to the fictional character created by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio, whose nose grew longer whenever he was stressed or was being dishonest (Oliver et al. 2019).

References

IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. (2020). "Litoria pinocchio." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T152341473A152341515. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T152341473A152341515.en. Downloaded around February 2021.

Oliver, PM, Günther, R, Mumpuni, Richards, SJ. (2019). "Systematics of New Guinea treefrogs (Litoria: Pelodryadidae) with erectile rostral spikes: an extended description of Litoria pronimia and a new species from the Foja Mountains." Zootaxa 4604(2), 335–348 [link]

Smith, M.J., Osborne, W., Hunter, D. (2003). "Geographic variation in the advertisement call structure of Litoria verreauxii (Anura: Hylidae)." Copeia 2003(4), 750-758. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2021 Litoria pinocchio: Northern Pinocchio Treefrog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/9009> 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.

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