''Cornufer batantae'' 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

Ceratobatrachidae The Ceratobatrachidae are a family of frogs found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, the Philippines, Palau, Fiji, New Guinea, and the Admiralty, Bismarck, and Solomon Islands. Taxonomy Ceratobatrachidae was formerly treated as a subfamily (i.e ...

. 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 West Papua,

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 ...

, and is known from two islands near the New Guinean mainland,

Batanta Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 453 km² and its highest point is 1184 m. The Pitt Strait separates it from Salawati, while the Dampier Strait separate ...

and

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat, or the ''Four Kings'', is an archipelago loc ...

. There are also unconfirmed records from

Yapen Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Island a ...

and

Gag Island Gag Island is one of the Raja Ampat Islands in the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua. It is situated some 150 kilometres west of Sorong, the provincial capital. The island's population is approximately 450 living at Gambier Bay. This comm ...

s. Common name Batanta wrinkled ground frog has been coined for the species.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length, based on two males and two females 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 ...

. The snout is bluntly pointed, and the

canthus The canthus (pl. canthi, palpebral commissures) is either corner of the eye where the upper and lower eyelids meet. More specifically, the inner and outer canthi are, respectively, the medial and lateral ends/angles of the palpebral fissure. Th ...

is distinct but rounded. The tympanum is distinct. The supratympanic fold is strong. The dorsal surfaces are finely tuberculate. The back bears several narrow, elongate, dermal folds. The ground color of the dorsal surfaces is light to dark brown. Indistinct darker bars and spots are present on the upper lip; the supratympanic fold and some dorsal skin folds are dark brown. However, this markings are not visible in the dark brown specimen, apart from the dark supratympanic mark. The hind limbs have indistinct dark cross bars. The ventral surfaces are pale. The male advertisement call consist of a small number (4–8) of pulses, repeated at 132–226 pulses/s and lasting for 30–42 milliseconds.

Habitat and conservation

''Cornufer batantae'' is presumably a lowland forest species. 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 ...

was collected at . Development is direct, without free-living

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 ...

stage. The eggs are laid on the ground. ''Cornufer batantae'' is a poorly known species. On Waigeo, it is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

caused by logging. It is not known to occur in any protected area.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28057364 batantae Endemic fauna of Indonesia Amphibians of Western New Guinea Taxa named by Richard G. Zweifel Amphibians described in 1969 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot