''Kalophrynus eok'' 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 ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and currently only known from its type locality in the

Kelabit Highlands The Kelabit Highlands are a mountain range located in the northernmost part of Sarawak, Malaysia in the Miri Division. It hosts the Bario village. The highest mountains in this range are Mount Murud at , Bukit Batu Buli at , and Bukit Batu Lawi at . ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, but presumably, it also occurs in the adjacent

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

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 specific name ''eok'' is Kelabit for "tiny" and refers to the small size of this species. Common names eok sticky frog and small Bario sticky frog have been coined for it.

Description

''Kalophrynus eok'' is only known from 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 ...

, an adult male measuring in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

. The snout is obtuse and slightly projects beyond the mandible. The head is broader than it is long. The tympanum is distinct; no supratympanic fold is present. The fingers and the toes have rounded tips and basal webbing. The dorsum is granular, particularly on the eyelids and upper surfaces of the limbs. The dorsal coloration is brick-red. There is a sepia interorbital band that is connected to an irregular, inverted V-shaped scapular mark of the same color, which in turn is followed by an irregular transverse band across the midbody. The venter is flesh color and sides of the throat are peach red.

Habitat and conservation

The holotype was found in primary submontane forest at an elevation of about

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 ...

. The specimen was calling from a water-filled node of a bamboo plant fallen across a forest path. Breeding might take place in water pools at the internodes of such bamboo plants. The Kelabit Highlands in their entirety are threatened by commercial logging. Furthermore, the type of bamboo this species was found in are utilized locally.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2241443 eok Endemic fauna of Borneo Endemic fauna of Malaysia Amphibians of Malaysia Amphibians described in 2003 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians of Borneo