[Herpetology • 2018] Taxonomy of Litoria graminea (Anura: Hylidae), with Descriptions of Two closely related New Species; Litoria nullicedens & L. pallidofemora

Litoria nullicedens Kraus, 2018

DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4457.2.3

Abstract

I clarify the correct provenance and taxonomic identity of the poorly known canopy-dwelling frog, Litoria graminea, from New Guinea. I base my redescription upon analysis of relevant historical material as well as upon more recently obtained specimens from several localities in Papua New Guinea. Determining the correct identity of L. graminea makes clear that one recently named species (L. dux Richards & Oliver) is a junior synonym of that taxon and that additional close relatives of that species remain undescribed, two of which I describe here. The first is known from a series of localities along the southern versant of the Central Dividing Range and the Owen Stanley Mountains. The second is known from a single site in the foothills of the Owen Stanley Mountains in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. Differences among the species are largely confined to pigmentation features and the shape of the male nuptial pads. Further, I show that several morphometric and color-pattern features earlier thought to distinguish among members of this complex are encompassed by natural variation within true L. graminea, making the characters taxonomically uninformative. The two newly described species share the unusual feature of having green oral mucosa, although their bones were white in life. This coloration is presumably due to sequestration of biliverdin, as seen in a few other tropical treefrogs, but the function of this sequestration remains unknown.

Keywords: Litoria nullicedens sp. nov., Litoria pallidofemora sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, sibling species, species complex, treefrog, Amphibia


Litoria graminea (Boulenger, 1905)
Etymology. The name is a feminine Latin adjective meaning “grassy” and is no doubt in reference to the species’ green coloration.

Litoria pallidofemora, sp. nov.
Etymology. A feminine compound adjective derived from the Latin “pallidus”, meaning “pale”, and “femoris”, meaning “femoral”, in recognition of one of the diagnostic features of this species.

Portraits in life of holotype of Litoria nullicedens sp. nov. (BPBM 18440), Dorobisoro, Central Province.

Litoria nullicedens, sp. nov.
Etymology. The name is an invariant compound adjective derived from combining the Latin first-person present participle “cedo”, meaning “I yield”, and the dative of “nullus”, meaning “none” (hence, “I yield to none”), in recognition of the striking color pattern of the species among Papuan frogs.

Fred Kraus. 2018. Taxonomy of Litoria graminea (Anura: Hylidae), with Descriptions of Two closely related New Species. Zootaxa. 4457(2); 264–284. DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4457.2.3

[Herpetology • 2017] New Species of Blindsnake of the Genus Gerrhopilus (Squamata: Gerrhopilidae) from the offshore islands of Papua New Guinea

Gerrhopilus persephone Kraus, 2017 

DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4299.1.3 

 Abstract

I describe four new species of blindsnake of the genus Gerrhopilus from islands off the southeastern tip of New Guinea and from New Ireland to the northeast. All have ventral keels on the rostral scale, and most have previously been assigned in their respective museum collections to the species G. depressiceps. Examination of available specimens shows G. depressiceps to be a composite of species, and I emend the diagnosis of that species based on the holotype and one additional specimen from northeastern New Guinea. The species described as new here differ from G. depressiceps and from each other in a series of features, including shape of the snout, shape of the rostral scale, numbers of mid-dorsal scale rows, reduction patterns in longitudinal scale rows, body mass, degree of eye development, and color pattern. The new species all inhabit islands remote from the known range of G. depressiceps on New Guinea and have likely been separated from that species for millions of years.

 Keywords: Reptilia, Gerrhopilus depressiceps, External morphology, D’Entrecasteaux Islands, Milne Bay Province, New Ireland

Fred Kraus. 2017. New Species of Blindsnakes (Squamata: Gerrhopilidae) from the offshore islands of Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa.  4299(1); 75-94.  DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.4299.1.3

 

[Herpetology • 2016] Ten New Species of Oreophryne (Anura, Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea

Oreophryne anser   Kraus, 2016

paratype of Oreophryne anser sp. nov. (BPBM 15737) from S slope Mt. Pekopekowana, Owen Stanley Mts., Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea

 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4195.1.1 

Abstract

Oreophryne presently represents the second-most-diverse genus of microhylid frogs, with 57 named species, most occurring on New Guinea and its satellite islands. Nonetheless, a diversity of species remains to be described. Using morphological, color-pattern, and advertisement-call data, I describe ten new species of Oreophryne from the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea and adjacent islands, which together form the East Papuan Composite Terrane. All but two of these species can be placed into two species groups based on call type. I refer to these species groups as the O. anser group and the O. equus group, both being based on species described herein. Members of the Oreophryne anser group produce calls reminiscent of a goose honk, whereas members of the Oreophryne equus group produce calls reminiscent of a horse’s whinny. Description of three new species in the O. anser group requires me to first rediagnose O. loriae, which has previously been interpreted as including the frogs named herein as Oreophryne anser sp. nov. The honk call type has not previously been reported within Oreophryne, and the whinny call may be novel as well, although it is possibly derived from other New Guinean species having calls consisting of a slower series of peeps. Based on their unique call types, I hypothesize that both species groups are monophyletic. If true, each would appear endemic to the East Papuan Composite Terrane. Only five additional species of Oreophryne are known from this region that do not belong to one or the other of these two species groups; hence, these newly identified species groups represent the majority of diversity in Oreophryne from the Papuan Peninsula and its satellite islands.

Keywords: Amphibia, Frog, Milne Bay, Owen Stanley Mountains, East Papuan Composite Terrane

• Species with honk calls [O. anser group]

Oreophryne loriae (Boulenger, 1898)  

 Oreophryne anser sp. nov. 

 Oreophryne philosylleptoris sp. nov.

 Oreophryne lemur sp. nov.

• Species with whinny calls [O. equus group]

  Oreophryne equus sp. nov.

Oreophryne penelopeia sp. nov. 

 Oreophryne meliades sp. nov. 

Oreophryne banshee sp. nov. 

 Oreophryne picticrus sp. nov.

• Species with other calls

Oreophryne aurora sp. nov.

Oreophryne matawan sp. nov.  

Fred Kraus. 2016. Ten New Species of Oreophryne (Anura, Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa.  4195(1); 1–68.  DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4195.1.1