Meristogenys amoropalamus

Meristogenys amoropalamus is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to northern Borneo and occurs in northwestern Sabah and northeastern Sarawak (Malaysia) and in northeastern Kalimantan (Indonesia).[1][2] Common names mountain Borneo frog[1][2] and mountain torrent frog have been coined for it.[4] Studies of its larvae revealed that the nominal species contained two cryptic forms, and in 2011, Shimada and colleagues described Meristogenys dyscritus as a separate species.[5]

Meristogenys amoropalamus

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Meristogenys
Species:
M. amoropalamus
Binomial name
Meristogenys amoropalamus
(Matsui, 1986)
Synonyms[2]

Amolops amoropalamus Matsui, 1986[3]

Etymology

The specific name amoropalamus is derived from the Greek words amoros (="incomplete") and palame (="web") and refers to the poorly developed toe webbing of this species.[3]

Description

Adult females grow to about 80 mm (3.1 in) snout–vent length, whereas males are considerably smaller.[4] The maximum lengths reported by Shimada and colleagues are 40 and 67 mm (1.6 and 2.6 in) for males and females, respectively.[5] Males are less robustly built than females and have a relatively much larger tympanum.[4] The snout is comparatively blunt. The fingers and the toes bear round discs; the toes are fully only partially webbed. The dorsum is light brown and has small dark spots on the trunk. The lower parts are whitish.[3]

Habitat and conservation

Meristogenys amoropalamus live in montane forests at elevations of 1,000–2,200 m (3,300–7,200 ft) above sea level and are only encountered along the banks of clear, rocky streams. The tadpoles adhere to rocks and feed on lithophytes.[1]

This species is threatened by habitat loss caused by logging and agricultural activities. It is also collected for food. It occurs in the Kinabalu and Crocker Range National Park in Malaysia, and in the Betung Kerihun National Park and Pulong Tau National Park in Indonesia; the latter is not (yet) well protected.[1]

gollark: If the brain is dead, it isn't much use.
gollark: Ideally we would remove the brains from people's skulls and directly feed them input data via the existing nerve I/O bits, but nooooo, apparently that's "unethical" and "impractical".
gollark: Kidnap some psychology students?
gollark: From a very self-selected group, though.
gollark: Or probably the paper it cites would be better.

References
  1. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2018). "Meristogenys amoropalamus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Meristogenys amoropalamus (Matsui, 1986)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  3. Matsui, Masafumi (1986). "Three new species of Amolops (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae)". Copeia. 1986 (3): 623–630. doi:10.2307/1444943. JSTOR 1444943.
  4. Haas, A.; Das, I. & Hertwig, S.T. (2017). "Meristogenys amoropalamus (Mountain Torrent Frog)". Frogs of Borneo. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  5. Shimada, T.; Matsui, M.; Yambun, P. & Sudin, A. (2011). "A survey of morphological variation in adult Meristogenys amoropalamus (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae), with a description of a new cryptic species" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2905: 33–56.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.