''Copiula rivularis'' 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 known from near the Indonesian border east to the

Morobe Province Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands P ...

; it is expected to occur in the

Papua province Papua is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Tabi Saireri. It is bordered by the ...

of Indonesia. 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 ...

comes from the Latin adjective pertaining to small brooks or streams and refers to the habitat of this species. Based on molecular evidence, it was transferred from ''

Austrochaperina ''Austrochaperina'' is a genus of microhylid frogs found on New Guinea, New Britain and Australia. Taxonomy The genus was removed from the synonymy of '' Sphenophryne'' by Richard Zweifel in 2000. However, as currently defined, it might not be ...

'' to ''

Copiula ''Copiula'' is a genus of Microhylidae, microhylid frogs endemic to New Guinea. The common name Mehely frogs has been coined for them. They are leaf-litter inhabitants. Taxonomy ''Copiula'' is probably not monophyletic. Some former ''Austrochape ...

'' in 2016.

Description

Males grow to and females to in snout–vent length; the body size is geographically variable. The dorsum is olive-brown with darker brown markings. Ventral coloration is gray-brown with faint darker mottling that is most evident on the chin. The legs are moderately long. The tympanum is scarcely visible. The fingers and toes are unwebbed and have well-developed terminal discs.

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are tropical forests where it occurs along small streams; they might hide under the leaf litter but are good swimmers. It is locally abundant and there are no known threats facing it.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28034771 rivularis Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Endemic fauna of Papua New Guinea Taxa named by Richard G. Zweifel Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 2000 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN