species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
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
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
and found in the northern part of the island in both
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
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 ...
as well in some offshore islands (including Normanby, Waigeo, and
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
). Common name Papua frog has been coined for it.
Description
''Papurana papua'' is a comparatively small frog. Adult males grow to and adult females to in snout–vent length; mean length is respectively . The limbs are short, giving this frog an oddly elongated appearance. The upper lip is white and contrasts with the surrounding dark ground color. As typical for the genus, dark post-ocular mask is present, but it is not clearly demarcated posteriorly. The sides have low-contrast pattern of brown clouded over white, gray, or faint yellow. The venter is white or with faint, dark yellow cast, evenly suffused with dark punctations or gray clouding. The dorsum is smooth or finely granular and has few, scattered, large, dark brown warts.
The male advertisement call is a single pulsed note, sounding like a "quack".
Habitat and conservation
''Papurana papua'' lives in swampy forests and flooded grasslands, including disturbed habitats, at elevations up to
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 ...
. Breeding takes place in pools and swamps. It is an abundant and widely distributed species. No significant threats to it are known. It lives in some protected areas.