''Copiula pipiens'' 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 known from its type locality, Wirui near

Wewak Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city (seat) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak. Hi ...

in the north coast of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

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 from the island of Yapen, off the north-western coast of New Guinea, in the West Papua province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The Yapen population might represent a different but closely related species. Common name Wirui Mehely frog has been coined for this species.

Description

Adult males in 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 ...

measure and the sole adult female in snout–vent length. The head is almost triangular, longer than it is broad. The snout is long and protruding. The eyes are small. The tympanum is visible; no supratympanic fold is present. The fingers and the toes bear small terminal discs and are unwebbed. The hind legs are moderately long. Skin is smooth. The dorsum has pale orange-pink ground color and is uniformly spotted. A faint mid-vertebral line is present. The ventral surfaces are creamy-white with brown markings; the vent region is suffused by orange-pink. Males have a single

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way o ...

. The male advertisement call is a rapid series of high-pitched cheeps, emitted at a rate of about 10 notes/second for a period of up to 20 seconds. The dominant frequency is 4–5 kHz.

Habitat and conservation

''Copiula pipiens'' occurs in open secondary woodland slightly above sea level in the Wewak area, and in degraded forest on the Yapen Island 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 ...

. Presumably, it has direct development (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). ''Copiula pipiens'' is a common species. Threats to it are not known but it appears to be able to persist in disturbed habitats. It occurs in the Yapen Nature Reserve, although logging is also taking place in the reserve.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2240923 pipiens Amphibians of Indonesia Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Amphibians of New Guinea Amphibians described in 1986 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot