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| Kalophrynus minutus Imbun, Fui Lian, Lakim & Majuakim, in Imbun, Tan, Lakim et Majuakim. 2025. |
Abstract
Background: We monitored five localities within Crocker Range Park, one of the protected forests administered by Sabah Parks in the Malaysian part of Borneo. The sites selected were at various elevations: lowland sites at 260 m and 499 m a.s.l.; montane sites at 1,216 m, 1,260 m and 1,477 m a.s.l. Forty species were encountered in this study. New discoveries were also found during the course of our three-year period survey (October 2003–October 2006).
New information: The discoveries include amongst others, the Sabah endemics of Meristogenys, two new records for Sabah: Sarawakiphrys dringi (Inger, Stuebing and Tan, 1995), and Pelophryne rhopophilia Inger and Stuebing, 1996, as well as a new species, Kalophrynus minutus sp. nov., described herein. These findings provide evidence of many unknown species still waiting to be discovered. These discoveries also add significantly to our understanding of the distribution of frog species in Borneo as a whole, showing that species formerly thought to be very restricted geographically actually have much greater and more extensive distributions within Borneo.
Keywords: frogs, Kalophrynus, distribution, tropical, protected forest, Crocker Range, Borneo
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| Colouration and dorsolateral pattern of the type specimen (SP26180) of Kalophrynus minutus sp. nov. in life. A a large, round, black ocellus is visible in the inguinal region; B–C show a thick X-shaped pattern over the shoulders and a dorsolateral row of white tubercles with black edging. Photographs: Paul Imbun. |
Kalophrynus minutus Imbun, Fui Lian, Lakim & Majuakim, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: A small species of Kalophrynus, adults < 25 mm; fourth finger with a single subarticular tubercle, free portion of fourth finger less than length of terminal phalanx of third finger; fifth toe shorter than third; a large black inguinal ocellus.
Etymology: The specific epithet is taken from the Latin adjective minutus for small, in reference to the new species having the smallest maximum body size in the genus Kalophrynus.
Paul Imbun, Tan Fui Lian, Maklarin Lakim and Luiza Majuakim. 2025. Composition and Distribution of Frogs in Crocker Range Park, Sabah, Malaysia, with A Description of A New Kalophrynus (Anura, Microhylidae) Species. Biodiversity Data Journal. 13: e157470. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e157470
