Abstract
A small number of treefrog species (Litoria) from Melanesia are unusual amongst Anura in having distinctive fleshy rostral spikes. Here, we first present an extended description for Litoria pronimia Menzies, a small species that is widespread along the southern edge of the Central Cordillera of New Guinea, and in which males have a long and erectile rostral spike. Second, we describe Litoria pinocchio sp. nov. a new, morphologically similar, yet geographically disjunct species from the Foja Mountains in northern Papua Province, Indonesia. The new species differs from Litoria pronimia in aspects of body shape, proportions and colouration. A review of variation in the size, structure and degree of sexual dimorphism of the rostral spike across different species of Litoria suggests varying function including mate selection and camouflage.
References
Beehler, B. & Prawiradilaga, D.M. (2010) New taxa and new records of birds from the north coastal ranges of New Guinea. Bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s Club, 130, 277–285.
Beehler, B., Diamond, J., Kemp, N., Scholes, E., Milensky, C. & Laman, T. (2012) Avifauna of the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea. Bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s Club, 132, 1–18.
Beehler, B.M., Prawiradilaga, D.M., de Fretes, Y. & Kemp, N. (2007) A new species of Smoky Honeyeater (Meliphagidae: Melipotes) from western New Guinea. Auk, 124, 1000–1009.
https://doi.org/10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[1000:ANSOSH]2.0.CO;2
Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2007) A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar. Third edition. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Cologne, 496 pp.
Günther, R. (2003) Notable distribution records of New Guinean frog species and genera beyond their known ranges (Amphibia, Anura). Faunistische Abhandlungen, 24, 209–216.
Günther, R. (2006a) A remarkable new species of the genus Litoria (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae) from north-western New Guinea. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 82, 179–190.
https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnz.200600004
Günther, R. (2006b) Derived reproductive modes in New Guinean anuran amphibians and description of a new species with paternal care in the genus Callulops (Microhylidae). Journal of Zoology, 268, 153–170.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00007.x
Günther, R. (2008) Two new hylid frogs (Anura: Hylidae: Litoria) from western New Guinea. Vertebrate Zoology, 58, 83–92.
Günther, R. (2014) New data on Litoria mucro (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae) from New Guinea. Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Bremen, 47, 225–231.
Halliday, T. & Tejedo, M. (1995) Intrasexual selection and alternative mating behaviour. In: Wells, K. (Ed.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 2: Social Behaviour. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney, pp. 419–468.
Hiaso, J. & Richards, S.J. (2006) A new species of Litoria (Anura: Hylidae) from Tagula Island, Papua New Guinea. Science in New Guinea, 28, 34–38.
Johnston, G.R., Lee, M.S.Y. & Surasinghe, T.D. (2013) Morphology and allometry suggest multiple origins of rostral appendages in Sri Lankan agamid lizards. Journal of Zoology, 289, 1–9.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00962.x
Kraus, F. (2007) A new species of treefrog of the genus Litoria (Hylidae) from the Louisiade Islands, Papua New Guinea. Herpetologica, 63, 365–374.
https://doi.org/10.1655/0018-0831(2007)63[365:ANSOTO]2.0.CO;2
Kraus, F. (2018) Taxonomy of Litoria graminea (Anura: Hylidae), with descriptions of two closely related new species. 4457, 264–284.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4457.2.3
Menzies, J. (1993) Systematics of Litoria iris (Anura, Hylidae) and its allies in New-Guinea and a note on sexual dimorphism in the group. Australian Journal of Zoology, 41, 225–255.
https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO9930225
Menzies, J.I. & Johnston, G.R. (2015) The structure of the male proboscis in the New Guinean tree frogs, Litoria pronimia and Litoria havina (Anura:Hylidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 63, 175–180.
https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO15016
Oliver, P., Krey, K., Mumpuni & Richards, S. (2011) A new species of bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus, Gekkonidae) from the North Papuan Mountains. Zootaxa, 2930, 22–32.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2930.1.2
Oliver, P., Richards, S., Mumpuni, M. & Rösler, H. (2016) The Knight and the King: two new species of giant bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus, Gekkonidae, Squamata) from northern New Guinea, with comments on endemism in the North Papuan Mountains. ZooKeys, 562, 105–130.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.562.6052
Oliver, P., Richards, S. & Tjaturadi, B. (2012) Two new species of Callulops (Anura: Microhylidae) from montane forests in New Guinea. Zootaxa, 3178, 33–44.
Oliver, P.M., Iannella, A., Richards, S.J. & Lee, M.S.Y. (2017) Mountain colonisation, miniaturisation and ecological evolution in a radiation of direct-developing New Guinea Frogs (Choerophryne, Microhylidae). PeerJ, 5e3077.
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3077
Poe, S., Ayala, F., Latella, I.M., Kennedy, T.L., Christensen, J.A., Gray, L.N., Blea, N.J., Armijo, B.M. & Schadd, E.W. (2012) Morphology, phylogeny, and behaviour of Anolis probroscis. Brevoia, 530, 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.3099/530.1
Quirola, D.R., Mármol, A., Torres-Carvajal, O., Narváez, A.E., Ayala-Varela, F. & Moore, I.T. (2017) Use of a rostral appendage during social interactions in the Ecuadorian Anolis proboscis. Journal of Natural History, 51, 1625–1638.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2017.1332790
Rand, A.S. (1961) A Suggested Function of the Ornamentation of East African Forest Chameleons. Copeia, 1961, 411–414.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1439582
Richards, S.J. (2007) A new species of “spike-nosed” frog from northern New Guinea (Anura: Hylidae: Litoria). Zootaxa, 1525 (1), 51–59.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1525.1.5
Richards, S.J., Oliver, P., Dahl, C. & Tjaturadi, B. (2006) A new species of large green treefrog (Anura: Hylidae: Litoria) from northern New Guinea. Zootaxa, 1208, 57–68.
Richards, S.J. & Oliver, P.M. (2006) Two new species of large green canopy-dwelling frogs (Anura: Hylidae: Litoria) from Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa, 60, 41–60.
Richards, S.J., Oliver, P.M., Krey, K. & Tjaturadi, B. (2009) A new species of Litoria (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) from the foothills of the Foja Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia. Zootaxa, 2277, 1–13.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04311.x
Richards, S.J., Tjaturadi, B., Mumpuni & Puradyatmika, P. (2015) Field guide to Frogs of the Mimika region—Papua, Indonesia. PT Freeport Indonesia, Mimika, 66 pp.
Rosauer, D., Laffan, S.W., Crisp, M.D., Donnellan, S.C. & Cook, L.G. (2009) Phylogenetic endemism: A new approach for identifying geographical concentrations of evolutionary history. Molecular Ecology, 18, 4061–4072.
Shine, R. (1979) Sexual selection and sexual dimorphism in the Amphibia. Copeia, 1979, 297–306.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1443418
Stattersfield, A.J., Crosby, M.J., Long, A.J. & Wege, D.C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife International, Cambridge, 846 pp.
Takeuchi, W. (2010) A floristic reconnaissance of montane environments in the Foja Mts. of Papua Province, Indonesia. Harvard Papers in Botany, 15, 11–25.
https://doi.org/10.3100/025.015.0104
Takeuchi, W. & Arifiani, D. (2010) A synopsis of new plant distributional records from the Foja Mountains of Papua Province, Indonesia. Harvard Papers in Botany, 15, 41–50.
https://doi.org/10.3100/025.015.0118
Tyler, M.J. (1968) Papuan Hylid Frogs of the Genus Hyla. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 96, 1–203.
Williams, E.E. (1979) South American Anoles: The species groups. 2. The proboscis anoles (Anolis laevis group). Breviora, 449, 1–19.