SPHENOPHRYNE - American Museum of Natural History

24 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NO. 253
and patterned like the dorsum, but with a paler
ground color and more conspicuous spotting.
There is no dark seat patch. The ventral
ground color is pale tan, almost white, with
numerous small, slightly darker spots on the
throat and chest and a sparser scattering of
these on the abdomen. The soles are dark and
unspotted.
VARIATION IN TYPE SERIES: Averages and
ranges of selected proportions are in table 2,
and regression statistics are in table 3. The
largest of 13 specimens is the holotype, a
gravid female 26.3 mm SVL. Females at
22.1 and 22.9 mm are possibly immature, but
one of 22.7 mm is gravid and other larger
individuals are mature. Four males 22.6 to
24.4 mm SVL have vocal sac openings and
thus are presumably mature.
Except for minor differences, the description
of the holotype could stand for the other
specimens as well. The dorsal surfaces are
not always as smooth as in the holotype, but
may bear a scattering of inconspicuous, tiny
warts. In 11 of 13 specimens the disc on the
fourth toe is slightly but distinctly broader
than on the third finger, and in one of the
exceptional cases the toe disc appears to be
shrunken. There is no significant variation in
color or pattern.
ILLUSTRATIONS: 3rd finger terminal phalanx,
fig. 71L; premaxilla, fig. 64C; sacral
region, fig. 73E; vomer, fig. 65K; hands and
feet, fig. 56F.
CALL: This has not been described.
COMPARISONS WITH OTHER SPECIES: The
description and illustration of Chaperina
punctata van Kampen (here considered a
synonym of Austrochaperina macrorhyncha)
resemble Austrochaperina blumi in several
respects, and the type series of punctata
comes from the upper reaches of the Lorentz
River, not greatly distant (though across the
central divide) from the localities for blumi.
The most striking difference between blumi
and macrorhyncha is their size. The largest
of 14 blumi is only 26.3 mm SVL, and both
males and females of less than 23 mm are
mature. In contrast, macrorhyncha matures at
about 30 mm and reaches 36.8 mm.
Three species that resemble blumi in most
proportions are A. gracilipes, A. novaebritanniae,
and A. yelaensis. These are smaller species
reaching maximum size at 22–23 mm
SVL, whereas this is approximately the minimum
size at maturity of blumi. In addition,
blumi has relatively larger finger discs (table
3). The species are widely separated geographically,
with novaebritanniae and yelaensis
being insular and gracilis being an
Australian species found also in the southern
lowlands of Papua New Guinea.
REFERRED SPECIMEN: A single specimen
from western Papua New Guinea agrees with
the type series in most respects, although it
has slightly larger EN and HW measurements
and a greater IN than do others of similar
size. I tentatively refer this specimen to
this species, but exclude it from paratype status
because of its geographic remoteness
(some 250 km east of the localities in Irian
Jaya) and because I had no opportunity to
compare it directly with the specimens from
Irian Jaya.
HABITAT AND HABITS: Dr. Harold Cogger
(personal commun.) found the referred specimen,
a male, on an egg mass in a fissure in
a clay bank in a regrowth area.
DISTRIBUTION: The type-series localities for
Austrochaperina blumi lie at 1400–1500 m
on the north slope of the central dividing
range of Irian Jaya (fig. 10).
LOCALITY RECORDS AND SPECIMENS EXAM-
INED: Localities of the holotype and paratype
specimens are cited above. The referred
specimen, AMS R127758, has the following
data: Papua New Guinea: West Sepik Prov.;
ca 2 km W Atemkinkin Village, itself ca 7
km W Telefomin, 14134E, 0506S, collected
April 13, 1987.
REMARKS: Dr. Blum noted the native
names for this frog as ‘‘tanaofoge’’ at Kosarek
and ‘‘calap’’ at Bime Valley.
Austrochaperina brevipes (Boulenger),
new combination
Figures 11, 31B
Liophryne brevipes Boulenger, 1897: 11 (type locality,
‘‘Mount Victoria, Owen Stanley Range,
New Guinea’’; holotype, BMNH 1947.2.12.50,
formerly 1896.10.31.31, collected by A. S. Anthony;
see account of Liophryne rhododactyla
for information on locality and date of collection).
Sphenophryne brevipes: Parker, 1934: 158 (first
use of combination).
TYPE MATERIAL: The holotype is in mod-