''Meristogenys macrophthalmus'' 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 ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

(

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 is only known from its type locality in the

Bintulu District The Bintulu District is one of two districts of Bintulu Division in Sarawak, Malaysia. It has a total area of 7,220.40 square kilometres. Bintulu District has a sub-district, which is Sebauh. There are two towns in Bintulu District, namely Bintu ...

. 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 ...

''macrophthalmus'' is derived from the Greek words ''macros'' (="large") and ''ophthalmos'' (="eye") and refers to the large eyes of this frog. Common names Matsui's Borneo frog, large-eyed torrent frog, and big-eyed torrent frog have been coined for it.

Description

This species 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 ...

, which is an adult male measuring about in snout–vent length. The body is moderately stout. The snout is somewhat blunt. The eyes are large (diameter ). The tympanum is distinct and also relatively large. The fingers and the toes bear round discs; the toes are fully webbed. Skin is shagreened above. There is a low, glandular dorsolateral fold. The flanks are coarsely granular, the throat smooth, and the venter rugose. Coloration of living animals is unknown; the preserved specimen is grayish-brown dorsal with some indistinct markings. The upper lip is whitish. The limbs have crossbars dorsally. The underside is whitish.

Habitat and conservation

''Meristogenys macrophthalmus'' live primary, hilly, lowland rainforest. Breeding takes place in streams. 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 ...

(clear-cutting).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q514578

macrophthalmus ''Macrophthalmus'' is a genus of crabs which are widespread across the Indo-Pacific. It contains the following species (arranged into subgenera): ;Subgenus ''Chaenostoma'' Stimpson, 1858 *'' Macrophthalmus boscii'' Audouin, 1826 *'' Macrophthalm ...

Amphibians of Borneo Amphibians of Malaysia Endemic fauna of Borneo Endemic fauna of Malaysia Amphibians described in 1986 Taxa named by Masafumi Matsui Taxonomy articles created by Polbot