''Barygenys nana'' 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 ...

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 known from the mountains of

Eastern Highlands :''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.'' The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe ...

and

Western Highlands Province Western Highlands is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 4,299 km2, and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated p ...

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 ...

. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''nana'' refers to the small size of this species. Common name highland Papua frog has been proposed for it.

Description

The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

, a male presumed to be adult, measures in snout–vent length, whereas adult females measure in snout–vent length. The eyes are small, although relatively large compared to other ''Barygenys'' species. The snout is pointed. The tympanum is only faintly visible. The fingers are short, broad at the base but tapering to narrow, rounded tips. The toes are unwebbed. Skin is smooth, except in the post- sacral region and the hind legs where it becomes pustulose; the degree of rugosity varies greatly between individuals. Preserved specimens are dorsally light brown with some darker infuscation. The ventral surfaces are light brown with fine, darker mottling. The chin is slightly lighter than the rest of the lower surfaces.

Habitat and conservation

''Barygenys nana'' is known from a number of high-altitude localities, presumably representing montane rainforests and forest/grassland mosaics, at

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 considered not to be common. Development is presumably direct (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). There are no known threats to this species. It is not known to occur in any protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2698400

nana Nana, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana (chief) (died 1896), Mimbreño Ap ...

Amphibians of New Guinea Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Endemic fauna of New Guinea Endemic amphibian species of Papua New Guinea Taxa named by Richard G. Zweifel Amphibians described in 1972 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot