SPHENOPHRYNE - American Museum of Natural History
SPHENOPHRYNE - American Museum of Natural History
SPHENOPHRYNE - American Museum of Natural History
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2000 ZWEIFEL: PARTITION OF <strong>SPHENOPHRYNE</strong><br />
87<br />
Fig. 45. Ventral surfaces <strong>of</strong> Oxydactyla stenodactyla from Mt. Wilhelm showing variation in amount<br />
<strong>of</strong> dark spotting.<br />
ILLUSTRATIONS: Ventral pattern, fig. 45; 3rd<br />
finger terminal phalanx, fig. 71A; tip <strong>of</strong> 3rd<br />
finger, fig. 49; premaxilla, fig. 63A; hyoid,<br />
fig. 69A; sacral region, fig. 72A; vomer, fig.<br />
65A; skull, fig. 67A; hand and foot, fig. 53A;<br />
jaw musculature, figs. 74, 78A.<br />
CALL: I have no recording <strong>of</strong> the call,<br />
which Loveridge (1948: 422, citing information<br />
from P. J. Darlington) described as<br />
‘‘woodeny croaking.’’ M.M.J. van Balgooy<br />
(collector’s notes accompanying RMNH<br />
specimens) stated: ‘‘Its sound, a s<strong>of</strong>t chirping<br />
‘krrr, krrr’ not unlike that <strong>of</strong> a cricket, can be<br />
heard all day.’’ Hobart M. Van Deusen, who<br />
collected this species on Mt. Wilhelm on the<br />
Sixth Archbold Expedition, wrote in the field<br />
catalog: ‘‘Call note a single short ‘enh,’ rapidly<br />
repeated (40 or 50 in 30 seconds).’’<br />
COMPARISONS WITH OTHER SPECIES: Only<br />
O. alpestris could be confused with this species<br />
(see Diagnosis).<br />
HABITAT AND HABITS: The principal habitat<br />
<strong>of</strong> this species is alpine grassland, although<br />
the elevations at which some specimens were<br />
taken suggest that it may also occur in subalpine<br />
forests. Brass (1964) described in de-<br />
tail the cold, wet habitat at the type locality.<br />
Wade and McVean (1969: 31) stated that<br />
these frogs form ‘‘an extensive network <strong>of</strong><br />
burrows in the tussock grassland.’’ Notes by<br />
R. Rice accompanying a BPBM specimen<br />
stated: ‘‘Very sluggish species. Sit in shallow<br />
holes in soil and duff <strong>of</strong> tussocks and clumps<br />
<strong>of</strong> vegetation.’’ In notes accompanying<br />
RMNH specimens, M.M.J. van Balgooy<br />
characterized stenodactyla as ‘‘a very common<br />
species in the alpine region where it<br />
hides away in hollows in the soil, under<br />
shrubs and grass-tussocks from 3300–4000<br />
m.’’ P. J. Darlington found one, together with<br />
14 eggs, in moss under a tussock (Loveridge,<br />
1948). The foregoing notes all refer to Mt.<br />
Wilhelm.<br />
DISTRIBUTION: This species is known from<br />
elevations <strong>of</strong> 2490 to 4000 m in the central<br />
highlands <strong>of</strong> Papua New Guinea in Western<br />
Highlands, Simbu and Eastern Highlands<br />
Provinces (fig. 41). Populations in the four<br />
major areas <strong>of</strong> distribution—the Sepik Wahgi<br />
Divide, Mt. Wilhelm, Mt. Otto, and Mt. Kerigomna—probably<br />
are disjunct from one an-