Waitomo Frog
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The Waitomo frog (''Leiopelma waitomoensis'') is an
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of the genus ''
Leiopelma __NOTOC__ ''Leiopelma'' is a genus of New Zealand primitive frogs, belonging to the suborder Archaeobatrachia. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Leiopelmatidae. The leiopelmatids' relatively basal form indicates they have an ancient l ...
'' from
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. The Waitomo frog's distribution was solely in the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand. Its
extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
is believed to have happened during the last 1000 years. Its
subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
remains were discovered at a cave near Waitomo. ''L. waitomoensis'' was a large, robust frog, and presumably many times heavier than other native frogs. It was around 100 mm in length, about twice the size of any other native New Zealand frogs. It was first described by
Trevor H. Worthy Trevor Henry Worthy (born 3 January 1957) is an Australia-based paleozoologist from New Zealand, known for his research on moa and other extinct vertebrates. Biography Worthy grew up in Broadwood, Northland, and went to Whangarei Boys' High ...
in 1987 along with the Aurora frog and Markham's frog.


See also

*
List of amphibians of New Zealand All of the amphibians of New Zealand are either from the endemic genus ''Leiopelma'' or are one of the introduced species, of which three are extant. Pepeketua is the Māori word. Unique characteristics Members of the genus ''Leiopelma'' exhib ...
*
List of extinct animals of New Zealand This is a list of New Zealand species extinct in the Holocene that covers extinctions from the Holocene epoch, a geologic epoch that began about 11,650 years Before Present (about 9700 BCE) and continues to the present day. This epoch equat ...


References

Leiopelmatidae Amphibians of New Zealand Extinct animals of New Zealand Amphibians described in 1987 Holocene extinctions {{Anura-stub