''Cophixalus petrophilus'', the blotched boulder-frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s from the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

(

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) that was described in 2013. It is one of three newly described vertebrate species from

Cape Melville Cape Melville is a headland on the eastern coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia. To its west lies Princess Charlotte Bay. It is part of the Cape Melville National Park. Cape Melville was named Stoney Cape in 1815 by Lieutenant Charles ...

, the other two being skink '' Saproscincus saltus'' and gecko ''

Saltuarius eximius The Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko (''Saltuarius eximius'') is a species of geckos that is endemic to the Melville Range on Cape Melville in Northern Australia. The species was described in 2013 by Australian zoologists Conrad Hoskin (of James C ...

''. The specific name ''petrophilus'' means "rock-loving" and refers to restriction of this species to boulder field habitats.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The head is narrower than the body. The snout is blunt to projecting in profile. The tympanum is comparatively large but indistinct to moderately distinct, bordered by the supra-tympanic fold. The limbs are relatively long. The fingers and toes have no webbing. Fingers II–IV have large, truncated discs. The toe discs are also enlarged but smaller than those of the fingers. Skin is smooth but has some scattered, fine tubercles on the dorsum. Dorsal colouration is creamy yellow with dark brown blotching, which is paler in females than in males. The markings include a prominent W-mark on the shoulders and a bar between the eyes. A dark horizontal line runs through the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

. The ventral surfaces are uniformly white or pinkish grey; the throat is white.

Reproduction

The male advertisement call is a fairly short, medium-paced, low-pitched rattle (dominant frequency about 1300 Hz). Reproduction has not been observed, but this species is likely to lay its eggs in moist rock cracks, as known for closely related species ''

Cophixalus saxatilis The Black Mountain boulder frog (''Cophixalus saxatilis''), also known as the rock haunting frog or the Black Mountain rainforest frog, is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Australia, and its populations are now rest ...

''. The development is likely direct, with the

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s developing within the eggs while being guarded by the male, emerging as fully formed froglets when they hatch out.

Habitat

''Cophixalus petrophilus'' is restricted to granite boulder fields that are largely devoid of vegetation and is known from two sites a few kilometers apart on the Melville Range at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with ''

Cophixalus zweifeli ''Cophixalus zweifeli'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to northern Queensland, Australia, and only known from the area of its type locality in the Cape Melville National Park. The species was named to honour Ameri ...

'', but the latter is associated with boulders under or near rainforest, instead of more purely rocky habitats. ''Cophixalus petrophilus'' were observed to be active at night after or during rains, sitting on surface boulders of very deeply piled boulder fields. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

male was calling from inside the boulder layers.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15267813 petrophilus Endemic fauna of Australia Amphibians of Queensland Amphibians described in 2013 Frogs of Australia