''Cophixalus zweifeli'' 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 ...

to northern

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 ...

, and only known from the area of its type locality in the

Cape Melville National Park Cape Melville National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land) is a national park in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. The national park was previously named Cape Melville National Park until it was renamed on 28 November 2013. Geogr ...

. The species was named to honour American herpetologist

Richard G. Zweifel Richard George Zweifel (born November 5, 1926 in Los Angeles, died November 25, 2019) was an American herpetologist, who classified several species in the American Southwest and in Australia, including the rattling frog. Zweifel contributed immens ...

. Common name Zweifel's frog has been coined for it. It is one of the five northeast Australian ''Cophixalus'' species that are specialized in boulder field habitats.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The snout is elongated, truncated in dorsal view and straight, slightly projecting laterally. The tympanum is large but obscured dorsally. Fingers II–IV have greatly enlarged, truncated discs. The toe discs are also enlarged but smaller than those of the fingers. The dorsum is tan with some darker brown spots. A dark canthal stripe runs from the tip of the snout to slightly beyond the tympanum. The male advertisement call is a single high-pitched "yelp" composed of hundreds of fine pulses.

Habitat and conservation

''Cophixalus zweifeli'' live in boulder fields amongst and adjacent to rainforest. They are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

. Males call from boulders on the ground. The types were found in a boulder field near a creek, at the base of rocks and on a rock in a creek at

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 ...

. ''Cophixalus zweifeli'' 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 petrophilus ''Cophixalus petrophilus'', the blotched boulder-frog, is a species of frogs from the Cape York Peninsula (Queensland, Australia) that was described in 2013. It is one of three newly described vertebrate species from Cape Melville, Australia, t ...

'', but the latter is restricted to boulder fields largely devoid of vegetation, whereas the former is associated with boulders under or near rainforest. In the past, logging was a threat to this species. At present, a more likely threat is habitat degradation caused by increased visitation to the Cape Melville National Park.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2240753 zweifeli Amphibians of Queensland Endemic fauna of Australia Amphibians described in 1998 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Frogs of Australia