''Austrochaperina basipalmata'' is a species of

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 ...

in the family

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family (biology), family of frogs. The 683 species are in 57 genera and 11 subfamilies. Evolution A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the mountain ranges of northern

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 ...

and is found between Tawarin River in Papua,

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

(

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) and

Torricelli Mountains The Torricelli Mountains are a mountain range in Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains ar ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The tip of the snout is somewhat pointed and conspicuously whitened in adult males but the shout is rounded in adult females, rarely showing even a trace of white; juveniles of both sexes have dark snouts. The head is slightly narrower than the body. The eyes are relatively small. The tympanum is scarcely visible. The finger and toe tips bear grooved discs. The toes are basally webbed. Skin is smooth to slightly rugose dorsally and smooth ventrally. Preserved specimens are dorsally brown, often with some indistinct darker spotting or mottling, rarely with well-defined darker spots. The undersides are pale tan with more or less distinct darker mottling on the chin, chest, and hind legs.

Habitat and conservation

''Austrochaperina basipalmata'' occurs in rainforests in association with small mountain streams at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It is locally abundant. Development is direct (i.e. there is no free-living larval stage). There are no known threats to this species. It might be present in the Cyclops Mountains Nature Reserve.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2241992 basipalmata Endemic fauna of New Guinea Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Amphibians of Western New Guinea Taxa named by Pieter Nicolaas van Kampen Amphibians described in 1906 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot