''Meristogenys amoropalamus'' 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 Ranidae. 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

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 occurs in northwestern

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

and northeastern

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 ...

) and in northeastern

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 ...

). Common names mountain Borneo frog and mountain torrent frog have been coined for it. Studies of its larvae revealed that the nominal species contained two cryptic forms, and in 2011, Shimada and colleagues described ''

Meristogenys dyscritus ''Meristogenys'' is a genus of true frogs from Borneo. Its tadpoles are adapted to fast-flowing mountain streams and easily recognizable by their divided upper lip with ribs on the outside.Stuart (2008) Taxonomy and systematics Its closest livi ...

'' as a separate species.

Etymology

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 ...

''amoropalamus'' is derived from the Greek words ''amoros'' (="incomplete") and ''palame'' (="web") and refers to the poorly developed toe webbing of this species.

Description

Adult females grow to about snout–vent length, whereas males are considerably smaller. The maximum lengths reported by Shimada and colleagues are for males and females, respectively. Males are less robustly built than females and have a relatively much larger tympanum. The snout is comparatively blunt. The fingers and the toes bear round discs; the toes are fully only partially webbed. The dorsum is light brown and has small dark spots on the trunk. The lower parts are whitish.

Habitat and conservation

''Meristogenys amoropalamus'' live in montane forests at elevations of

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 ...

and are only encountered along the banks of clear, rocky streams. The

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 ...

s adhere to rocks and feed on

lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are also ...

s. This species 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 and agricultural activities. It is also collected for food. It occurs in the Kinabalu and

Crocker Range National Park Crocker Range National Park ( ms, Taman Negara Banjaran Crocker) was established in 1984, although the area had previously been under protection as a forest reserve. It covers the north-south Crocker Range, of 1200-1800 metre mountains in Sabah, ...

in Malaysia, and in the Betung Kerihun National Park and

Pulong Tau National Park The Pulong Tau National Park ( ms, Taman Negara Pulong Tau) is a national park in Kelabit Highlands in Limbang Division and Miri Division of Sarawak, Malaysia. Etymology In Lun Bawang and Kelabit dialects, ''Pulong Tau'' means "our forests", wh ...

in Indonesia; the latter is not (yet) well protected.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2011599 amoropalamus Endemic fauna of Borneo Amphibians of Indonesia Amphibians of Malaysia Amphibians described in 1986 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians of Borneo