''Scaphiophryne boribory'' 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 ...

s 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 ...

to eastern

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and only known from the area of its type locality near Fierenana.

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 ...

''boribory'' is a Malagasy word meaning "rounded", in reference to the stout and rounded body shape of the species.

Description

Adult males measure and females in snout–vent length. The body is stout. The head wider than long but less wide than the body. The tympanum is not visible and supratympanic fold is rudimentary only. The arms are moderately slender while the hind limbs are short and rather stout. The finger discs are greatly expanded while those on the toes are only slightly expanded. Skin is smooth (except on the throat) in preserved specimens. Skin appears "oversized", with loose and baggy "fit". The dorsal colour is vivid green, with prominent brown markings with black rims. The finger and toe discs are distinctly reddish. The belly is black with white spots. ''Scaphiophryne boribory'' is similar to ''

Scaphiophryne marmorata ''Scaphiophryne marmorata'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is commonly known as the green burrowing frog and the marbled rain frog. It is endemic to Madagascar. It is classified as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN as it is threatened ...

'' and '' Scaphiophryne spinosa'' but is larger, lacks tubercles in preserved specimens, and has reddish discs on fingers and toes.

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are flooded forest areas on sandy ground. Presumably it breeds in swamps. The altitude of its habitat has variously been given as about or

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 ...

. It is threatened by

loss Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

of its forest habitat caused by subsistence agriculture livestock grazing, timber extraction and charcoaling, spread of invasive eucalyptus, and expanding human settlements. Also over-collecting for the international pet trade might affect it. It is not known from any protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2210413 Scaphiophryne Endemic frogs of Madagascar Amphibians described in 2003 Taxa named by Frank Glaw Taxa named by Miguel Vences Taxonomy articles created by Polbot