Cornufer heffernani

Cornufer heffernani, sometimes known as the Solomon Island palm frog, is a species of frog in the family Ceratobatrachidae. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago where it can be found in at least Buka and Bougainville Islands of Papua New Guinea and Choiseul and Santa Isabel Islands of the Solomon Islands, but probably also more widely.[2] The specific name heffernani honours Mr. N. S. Heffernan, who collected the type series.[3]

Cornufer heffernani
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ceratobatrachidae
Genus: Cornufer
Species:
C. heffernani
Binomial name
Cornufer heffernani
(Kinghorn, 1928)
Synonyms[2]
  • Hylella solomonis Sternfeld, 1920 — secondary homonym of Cornufer solomonis Boulenger, 1884
  • Palmatorappia solomonis (Sternfeld, 1920)
  • Hypsirana heffernani Kinghorn, 1928

Taxonomy

Cornufer heffernani was until 2015 known as Palmatorappia solomonis,[2] the sole species of the genus Palmatorappia.[4] In a major revision of family Ceratobatrachidae, Brown and colleagues moved P. solomonis to the genus Cornufer, leading to secondary homonymy with Cornufer solomonis. They solved this issue by resurrecting Cornufer heffernani as a substitute name. Palmatorappia could still be recognized as a monotypic subgenus Cornufer (Palmatorappia).[5]

Description

Cornufer heffernani has a small, delicate, slender body and limbs.[5] A syntype specimen of Hylella solomonis in the Senckenberg Museum measures 28 mm (1.1 in) in snout–vent length.[4] The head is broader than the body and triangular in shape. The snout is broadly rounded and the eyes are large. The canthus rostralis and the tympanum are indistinct. The limbs are slender. Both the fingers and the toes are webbed and bear well-developed discs. Skin is smooth above but granular on the flanks, the belly, and under surface of the upper arm and thighs. Preserved specimens are purplish brown above and yellow below, fading to yellowish all over with time.[3][4]

Habitat and conservation

Cornufer heffernani is a very rare species that is found on low vegetation and trees in tropical rain forests. It can also be found in good-quality secondary forests. It has direct development, that is, it breeds without free-living tadpole stage. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by logging.[1]

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See also
  • Solomon Island leaf frog (Ceratobatrachus guentheri)

References
  1. Richards, S. & Parker, F. (2004). "Palmatorappia solomonis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T58446A11782308. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T58446A11782308.en.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Cornufer heffernani (Kinghorn, 1928)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  3. Kinghorn, J. Roy (1928). "Herpetology of the Solomon Islands". Records of the Australian Museum. 16 (3): 123–178. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.16.1928.784.
  4. Brown, Walter C. (1952). "The amphibians of the Solomon Islands". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 107: 3–64.
  5. Brown, Rafe M.; Siler, Cameron D.; Richards, Stephen J.; Diesmos, Arvin C. & Cannatella, David C. (2015). "Multilocus phylogeny and a new classification for Southeast Asian and Melanesian forest frogs (family Ceratobatrachidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 174 (1): 130–168. doi:10.1111/zoj.12232.
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