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| Litoria aplini Richards & Donnellan, 2020 Aplin’s Treefrog || DOI: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.72.2020.1729 |
Abstract
We describe a new species in the Australopapuan pelodryadid frog genus Litoria from upper hill forest (940 m a.s.l.) on the northern slopes of Papua New Guinea’s central cordillera. The new species is moderately small (male body length = 31.9–35.1 mm) and slender (head width/body length = 0.29–0.30), with extensive golden-yellow markings ventrally. It is most similar to Litoria iris, L. majikthise, L. ollauro, and L. verae but differs from them by a suite of morphological and colour features. The advertisement call is a series of short buzzes and clicks reminiscent of calls produced by both L. iris and L. ollauro. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial ND4 nucleotide sequences shows that the new species is closest to L. iris and L. majikthise but shows a net sequence divergence of 14–15% from both of these taxa. The new species is unusual in being found calling from forest on limestone substrate where free-standing water is rarely encountered.
Pelodryadidae Günther, 1858
Litoria Tschudi, 1838
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| Type series of Litoria aplini in life: (A) SAMA R71463; (B) SAMA R71465; (C) SAMA R71464; (D) SJR12834 (PNGNM); (E) SAMA R71463, in ventral view; and (F) SAMA R71463, ventral surfaces of hind limb. |
Litoria aplini sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Litoria aplini sp. nov. is diagnosed morphologically from all congeners by the combination of body size moderately small (male SVL 31.9–35.1 mm); snout relatively broad (EN/IN = 0.79–0.84) (Table 4); presence of crenulated folds on outer edge of tarsi; webbing on hands extending to slightly past penultimate tubercle on fourth finger; presence of prominent ivory conical tubercles below vent and on ventral surfaces of thighs; and in the following colour in life traits - belly golden-yellow posteriorly, hidden surfaces of limbs predominantly blue with dark brown mottling except for discrete golden-yellow patch on posteroventral surface of thighs. The advertisement call is a short buzz normally followed by 1–7 clicks, the latter most commonly comprising two pulses. From a genetic perspective, apomorphic nucleotide states at 12 sites in the mitochondrial ND4 gene reliably diagnose L. aplini from the eight most closely related species (Table 2).
Etymology. The species epithet is an honorific for Dr Ken Aplin, in recognition of his immense contributions to New Guinean herpetology and in gratitude for his friendship and selfless collaboration with the authors over many years. Ken’s tremendous intellect, boundless energy, and unfailing humour in the field are sorely missed. We recommend the common name “Aplin’s Treefrog” for this beautiful species.
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| . Closely related species that could be confused with Litoria aplini: (A) Litoria iris (SAMA R71615), adult male in life (Hindenburg Range, Western Province); (B) Litoria iris showing bright colours on hidden surfaces of the hind legs (unvouchered animal, Hela Province); (C) Litoria majikthise (SAMA R65042), in life, Muller Range, Western Province); (D, E) Litoria majikthise (SAMA R65042), showing colour ventrally and on hidden surfaces of hind limbs; and (F) Litoria ollauro, Milne Bay Province, photo courtesy of Fred Kraus. |
Stephen J. Richards and Stephen C. Donnellan. 2020. Litoria aplini sp. nov., A New Species of Treefrog (Pelodryadidae) from Papua New Guinea. Records of the Australian Museum. 72(5); 325-337. DOI: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.72.2020.1729
Nyctimene cephalotes aplini (Chiroptera)
Microperoyctes aplini (Peramelemorphia)
Alormys aplini (Rodentia) | Uromys aplini (Rodentia)
Litoria aplini (Anura)
