''Choerophryne variegata'' 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 West Papua,

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 is only known with certainty from its type locality,

Digul River The Digul River () is a major river in South Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is the fourth longest river in New Guinea after Sepik, Mamberamo, and Fly. With a total length of and a drainage basin of . Course The rive ...

. It is assumed that most records from elsewhere refer to other, possibly undescribed species. As the species is only known from one specimen from its vaguely stated type locality, its ecology is essentially unknown, although it is presumed to be a rainforest inhabitant. No other specimen has been collected anywhere near the type locality. Despite all this, vernacular name common rainforest frog has been coined for it.

Names

It is known as lk ɨkin the

Kalam language Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Prov ...

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 ...

, a name that is also sometimes applied to immature '' Cophixalus parkeri'', which has overlapping morphology and habitats with ''Choerophryne variegata''.Bulmer, RNH (1975)
Kalam Classification Of Reptiles And Fishes
''Journal of the Polynesian Society'' 84(3): 267–308. ''

Cophixalus shellyi ''Cophixalus shellyi'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and occurs in the New Guinea Highlands as well as in the Adelbert Range and on the Huon Peninsula. The specific name ''shellyi'' honors Fat ...

'', ''

Choerophryne darlingtoni ''Choerophryne darlingtoni'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and found in the New Guinea Highlands. The specific name ''darlingtoni'' honors P. Jackson Darlington Jr., an American evolutionary b ...

'', and ''

Oxydactyla brevicrus ''Sphenophryne brevicrus'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to West Papua, Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Names It is known as kabanm in the Kalam language of Papua ...

'' also tend to be identified by Kalam speakers as ''lk'' if calling from low vegetation, but as ''gwnm'' (usually applied to ''

Cophixalus riparius ''Cophixalus riparius'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and occurs in the New Guinea Highlands in Madang, Southern Highlands, and Western Highlands provinces southeastward to the Morobe Provin ...

'' and ''

Xenorhina rostrata ''Xenorhina rostrata'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is found in West Papua in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane fo ...

'') if found in daytime hiding spots.

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 ...

is an adult female with half-developed ova, measuring in snout–urostyle length. The snout is rounded truncate in dorsal view but projecting in profile. The arms are relatively short while the legs are relatively long. There is some basal webbing between the toes 4 and 5. The finger and toes disks are large and truncate.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28055898 variegata Endemic fauna of Indonesia Endemic fauna of New Guinea Amphibians of Western New Guinea Taxa named by Pieter Nicolaas van Kampen Amphibians described in 1923 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot