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 />
7<br />
used in systematics studies—change with<br />
growth. The degree and direction <strong>of</strong> change<br />
varies not only interspecifically, but also with<br />
the body part being considered. By using ratios<br />
<strong>of</strong> adults only, the ranges <strong>of</strong> variation<br />
can <strong>of</strong>ten be considerably reduced, leading to<br />
less overlap among species and more utility<br />
in keying. Ontogenetic change in proportions<br />
is discussed under Morphology.<br />
LOCALITY RECORDS<br />
A variety <strong>of</strong> circumstances hamper, even<br />
frustrate, fixing <strong>of</strong> localities <strong>of</strong> collection in<br />
New Guinea. Even in comparatively recently<br />
it has been difficult for field workers remote<br />
from towns or the few roads to pinpoint their<br />
location. Even as comprehensive maps become<br />
available (especially for Papua New<br />
Guinea), and with the increasing use <strong>of</strong> Geographic<br />
Positioning System technology, there<br />
remains a legacy <strong>of</strong> politically based and other<br />
sources <strong>of</strong> confusion in museum catalogs<br />
and published papers.<br />
IRIAN JAYA: From the 1800s until 1963, the<br />
western half <strong>of</strong> New Guinea was under<br />
Dutch control; ‘‘Netherlands New Guinea’’<br />
and ‘‘Dutch New Guinea’’ were the commonly<br />
used names. Following the Indonesian<br />
assumption <strong>of</strong> control, the name ‘‘Irian Barat’’<br />
saw some usage (at least as late as 1967).<br />
This was followed by ‘‘Irian Jaya,’’ as a<br />
Province <strong>of</strong> Indonesia. Quite recently the<br />
name was changed again to ‘‘Papua Barat’’<br />
(or West Papua). In the present work I continue<br />
to use the more familiar Irian Jaya. Administrative<br />
subdivisions <strong>of</strong> Irian Jaya exist<br />
but rarely appear in museum records. Many<br />
geographic names established under Dutch<br />
governance have been replaced by Indonesian<br />
ones. For example, the principal city<br />
was Hollandia, then Sukarnapura, then Jayapura,<br />
now Port Numbai.<br />
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The eastern half <strong>of</strong><br />
New Guinea has had a more complicated<br />
political history as well as much more biological<br />
collecting activity than has Irian<br />
Jaya. The first administrative organization<br />
<strong>of</strong> the northern part was by Germany in<br />
1884 as Kaiser Wilhelmsland. This also included<br />
islands to the north and east—Neu<br />
Pommern (New Britain), Neu Mecklenburg<br />
(New Ireland), and many smaller islands.<br />
German New Guinea and Northeast New<br />
Guinea are other names <strong>of</strong>ten encountered<br />
in the literature and in museum records.<br />
Australia occupied Kaiser Wilhelmsland in<br />
1914, and in 1920 the League <strong>of</strong> Nations<br />
mandated administrative control <strong>of</strong> the area<br />
to Australia as the Trust Territory <strong>of</strong> New<br />
Guinea.<br />
The southern part <strong>of</strong> Papua New Guinea<br />
was originally (1888) British New Guinea;<br />
in 1906 it was turned over to Australian administration<br />
and renamed Papua, later called<br />
the Territory <strong>of</strong> Papua but governed separately<br />
from the Territory <strong>of</strong> New Guinea.<br />
Governmental evolution subsequent to<br />
World War II produced the combined Territory<br />
<strong>of</strong> Papua New Guinea and then (1975)<br />
the independent nation <strong>of</strong> Papua New Guinea.<br />
The territories <strong>of</strong> Papua and New Guinea<br />
were subdivided into administrative districts<br />
that, with nationhood, were redesignated as<br />
provinces. Many <strong>of</strong> these did not long retain<br />
their original integrity. New provinces were<br />
carved out <strong>of</strong> old, boundaries were adjusted,<br />
provinces were renamed, and alternate spellings<br />
were used. Even names used by the provincial<br />
and central governments disagree in<br />
some instances.<br />
For Papua New Guinea, I have standardized<br />
province records according to the names