''Cophixalus shellyi'' 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 ...

in the family

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and occurs in the New Guinea Highlands as well as in the

Adelbert Range Adelbert Range is a mountain range in Madang Province, north-central Papua New Guinea. The highest point of the mountains is at . The Northern Adelbert languages and Southern Adelbert languages are spoken in the region. Fauna and flora As with ...

and on the Huon Peninsula. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''shellyi'' honors Father Otto Schellenberger ("Shelly"), an American missionary and former professor in mathematics who collected the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

Common names

The common name Shelly's rainforest frog has been coined for this species. It is known as gwnm sbmganpygak in the Kalam language of

.Bulmer, RNH (1975)
Kalam Classification Of Reptiles And Fishes
. ''Journal of the Polynesian Society'' 84(3): 267–308.

Description

Adult males grow to at least and adult females to in snout–vent length; females appear to reach maturity at . The snout is obtusely pointed. The tympanum is very indistinct, and the supratympanic fold is very faint. The legs are relatively long. The fingers and toes bear discs that are relatively small. The first finger is very short and bears no distinctly enlarged disc. Preserved specimens are grayish brown dorsally. The side of the head is black. A faint, light mid-vertebral line may be present.

Habitat and conservation

''Cophixalus shellyi'' occurs in low vegetation of hill and montane rainforests, including formerly logged forests, 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 ...

. Specimens have also been found in landslides, rockslides, and rocky areas. Development is presumably direct (i.e., no free-living larval stage). It is a locally common species that is not facing known threats. It is not known from protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2240718 shellyi Endemic fauna of New Guinea Endemic fauna of Papua New Guinea Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Amphibians described in 1956 Taxa named by Richard G. Zweifel Taxonomy articles created by Polbot