''Austrochaperina'' is a genus of
microhylid frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...
s found on
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
,
New Britain and Australia.
[
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Taxonomy
The genus was removed from the synonymy of '' Sphenophryne'' by Richard Zweifel in 2000. However, as currently defined, it might not be monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
, with two monophyletic units of ''Austrochaperina'' more closely related to parts of '' Copiula'' than with each other.[
]
Description
''Austrochaperina'' are rather generalized frogs in their morphology and appear mostly to inhabit leaf litter. They reach maximum sizes between snout–vent length. Finger and toe tips are flattened and disc-like. Most species lack toe webbing.[
]
Species
The following species are recognised in the genus ''Austrochaperina'':[
The AmphibiaWeb][ includes a few additional species that Peloso and colleagues moved to '' Copiula'' in 2016.]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2698628
Microhylidae
Amphibians of Oceania
Amphibian genera