''Zhangixalus achantharrhena'' 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

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly ...

. 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 ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

(Indonesia) and known from a number of high-elevation localities ranging from

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

in the northwest to Lampung in the southeast. 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 ...

''achantharrhena'', from the Greek nouns (=thorn or prickle) and (=male), refers to a characteristic of males of this species: skin covered by tiny spicules.

Description

Males grow to and females (based on a single specimen) to in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

. In males, the snout is sloping in lateral view and acuminate in dorsal view with a slightly spatulate tip. In the female, the snout is more rounded. The tympanum is distinct but its upper edge is hidden by the thick and conspicuous supratympanic fold. The fingers and toes are webbed and bear terminal discs. The dorsum is smooth in the female but finely spiculate in males. Dorsal coloration is bright green with reddish spots (lighter in some specimens). The dorsal surfaces of the digits, dermal appendages on the limbs and above the vent, and the lower lip are yellowish white. The venter and gular region are bright yellow. Webbing between the toes 3–5 is red but green between the other toes and the fingers.

Habitat and conservation

''Zhangixalus achantharrhena'' is known from secondary growth tropical forest where it was found in overhanging vegetation close to pools and slow-flowing streams and from close to tea plantations. Reproduction probably involves foam nests in vegetation overhanging water and aquatic

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. Its elevational range is

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 can be locally common. However,

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 smallholder farming and subsistence collection of wood is threatening this species. It occurs in the

Kerinci Seblat National Park Kerinci Seblat National Park is the largest national park on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It has a total area of 13,791 km2, and spans four provinces: West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra. Geography It is located between 1 ...

, but habitat loss occurs also in the park.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q111324741, from2=Q1813007 achantharrhena Frogs of Asia Amphibians of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Sumatra Amphibians described in 2002 Taxa named by Michael B. Harvey Taxonomy articles created by Polbot