SPHENOPHRYNE - American Museum of Natural History

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82 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NO. 253 Fig. 40. Comparison of relative eye size and internarial span in Oxydactyla crassa (circles) and O. coggeri (squares). Adult individuals only plotted; symbols enclosing dots represent two specimens with identical ratios. Oxydactyla crassa (Zweifel), new combination Sphenophryne crassa Zweifel, 1956: 11 (type locality, ‘‘north slope of Mt. Dayman, Maneau Range, Territory of Papua [Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea], at an elevation of 2230 meters’’; holotype, AMNH A56803, collected by G. M. Tate on the Fourth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea, May 25, 1953). DIAGNOSIS: Distinguished from other Oxydactyla (except O. coggeri) in that the fingertips are rounded to slightly flattened but not clearly disclike and the toe tips are disclike with terminal grooves but not (or scarcely) broader than the penultimate phalanges. Differs from coggeri in the advertisement call (see diagnosis of coggeri) and in certain proportions (see Comparisons with Other Species). MORPHOLOGY: The holotype, a female with ova 3 mm in diameter, is described in Zweifel (1956); its measurements and proportions Fig. 41. Distribution of three Oxydactyla species in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Open circles, O. stenodactyla; solid circles, O. alpestris; half-darkened circle, sympatry; triangles, O. coggeri. Vertical hatching, 1800–2400 m; diagonal hatching, above 2400 m.
2000 ZWEIFEL: PARTITION OF SPHENOPHRYNE 83 are: SVL 28.6, HW 10.7, TL 9.6, EY 3.0, EN 2.2, IN, 2.9, HD 5.5, FT 10.6, FD of 0.6, TD 0.8; TL/SVL O.336, HW/SVL 0.374, HD/SVL 0.210, FT/SVL 0.399, EY/SVL 0.105, EN/SVL 0.077, IN/SVL 0.107, EN/IN 0.722, FD/SVL 0.021, TD/SVL 0.029. This is a small (up to 30 mm), chunky, short-legged species. Snout bluntly pointed as seen from above, rounded and projecting slightly in profile; nostrils lateral, just visible from above, slightly closer to snout tip than to eye but in lateral view nearly terminal; loreal region flat, moderately steeply sloping, canthus rostralis abrupt but not sharp. Eyes relatively small (EY/SVL 0.109), eyelid width equals about 60% of interorbital distance. Tympanum relatively large (75% of EY) but scarcely distinct externally. Relative lengths of fingers 4 3 5 2 1, first more than half length of second; tips not disclike, rounded, equal to or slightly broader than penultimate phalanges, terminal groove not (or but faintly) present; subarticular and metacarpal elevations low, rounded. Toes unwebbed, relative lengths 4 3 5 2 1, tips flattened and broadened into small but distinct discs with terminal grooves; subarticular and inner metatarsal elevations low, rounded; no outer metatarsal tubercle. A weak, diagonal postocular fold. Back with numerous short skin folds and indistinct rugosities; a -shaped pair of folds in the scapular region; hind legs somewhat rugose. Ventral surfaces smooth. COLOR AND PATTERN: In preservative, the dorsum is light brown with indistinct, random, tiny darker spots and some larger spots on the flanks. Lumbar eyespots are more or less evident. The loreal region is slightly duskier than the back. A narrow dark band passes from the tip of the snout through the nostril to the eye and resumes at the posterior corner of the eye, following the postocular fold across the upper edge of the tympanum. This band may terminate anterior to the arm or may continue as a series of spots or as a stripe for a short distance above and past the arm. The venter is pale with relatively large, irregular dark spots, larger on the chin than on the abdomen. The anterior and posterior surfaces of the thighs have dark, splotchy markings, and the posterior surface has an ill-defined, dark triangular seat patch. The undersides of the thighs are pale with obscure dusky markings, whereas the shanks are marked more like the abdomen. The palms are pale with dark markings, the soles the reverse. Brass (1956: 130) called these frogs ‘‘reddish brown’’; I have not examined living individuals. VARIATION IN SIZE AND PROPORTIONS: Nothing can be said of geographic variation, as the few specimens all come from the same mountain. The smallest of the 12 specimens (SVL 23.7 mm) is at or close to maturity, as it has ova 1 mm in diameter; I cannot be sure of the sex of the largest specimen (SVL 30.1 mm). Proportions are summarized in table 10, regression data are presented in table 11. ILLUSTRATIONS: Hand and foot, fig. 53E. CALL: Brass (1956: 130) characterized the sound of a chorus of these frogs as ‘‘like concerted cackling in a distant fowl-yard.’’ James Menzies recorded three individuals at Betamin, Mt. Dayman, 2050 m, in July 1984. The note is a soft ‘‘coo’’ lasting about 0.35 sec (0.26–0.41, N 9; see fig. 77C) and repeated about every 16 sec (13–18, N 5 intervals). I have recordings of four notes of one frog, three of another, and two of a third. The unpulsed note is finely tuned in all instances and maintained at a frequency of 900 Hz. One individual consistently initiated each of four notes with a brief (0.05 sec) segment at 1050 Hz before dropping to 900 Hz. This was not true of the other frogs. Menzies (personal commun.) recorded one frog at between noon and 1300 hours, the others at about 2100 hours. One frog was found calling from the ground beneath a leaf, whereas the others were deeper in the substratum and were not captured. Menzies recorded the body temperature of a calling frog as 17C where the ground was 13.2C. COMPARISONS WITH OTHER SPECIES: No other Oxydactyla is known from the area in which crassa occurs. Austrochaperina brevipes, a species of similar size and habitus, occupies much the same habitat in the Owen Stanley Mountains to the northwest. If questionable specimens are captured in an intermediate region and vocalizations are not known, such specimens should be diagnosed especially on the basis of the nature of the
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SPHENOPHRYNE - American Museum of Natural History

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