''Xenorhina zweifeli'' 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 ...

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 is only known from the Bewani and Hunstein Mountains in northern

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 ...

. The species is named for American herpetologist

Richard G. Zweifel Richard George Zweifel (born November 5, 1926 in Los Angeles, died November 25, 2019) was an American herpetologist, who classified several species in the American Southwest and in Australia, including the rattling frog. Zweifel contributed immens ...

, a specialist in New Guinean herpetology and microhylid frogs; he is also said to share "characteristically terse vocalizations" with this frog.

Description

Adult measure in snout–vent length. The snout is truncate. The tympanic ring is indistinct and the supratympanic fold is not well-developed. The fingers have no discs while the toes bear expanded discs. No webbing is present. Dorsal surface is scattered with low, rounded tubercles, while the ventral surfaces are smooth. Dorsal coloration is variable and can be mostly uniform light chocolate-brown, but with a yellow vertebral stripe and darker on head and anterior part of body, or without a vertebral stripe but heavily mottled with tan and brown blotches overlaid with black specks and small black blotches. The male advertisement call consists of a single note uttered irregularly but frequently during the day and early evening.

Habitat and conservation

''Xenorhina zweifeli'' is known from primary forest and forest clearings at elevations 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 ...

. These frogs are

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

, with individuals occupying small cavities on the forest floor. Development is direct (i.e, there is no free-living larval stage). There are no known threats to this species found in isolated areas. It is patchily distributed but can be locally common; it is uncommon in the Hunstein Mountains. It is not known to occur in any protected area.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2211057 zweifeli Endemic fauna of New Guinea Endemic fauna of Papua New Guinea Amphibians of New Guinea Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Amphibians described in 2002 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot