Horned land frog

Sphenophryne cornuta

SUBFAMILY

Genyophryninae

TAXONOMY

Sphenophryne cornuta Peters and Doria, 1878, near the Wa Samson river in northern New Guinea (Irian Jaya, Indonesia).

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The maximum body length is about 1.6 in (41 mm); females are slightly larger than males. The body is relatively slender, with long legs and a somewhat pointed snout. Enlarged terminal disks on the fingers and toes, both of which are not webbed, give the species the aspect of a tree frog, and a pointed tubercle on each eyelid distinguishes it from other species with which it might be confused. The color varies from dark to light brown above and gray laterally, with largely gray, orange, or red undersides.

DISTRIBUTION

The species inhabits most of New Guinea at low to moderate elevations, usually below 4,100 ft (1,250 m).

HABITAT

This species inhabits rainforest.

BEHAVIOR

Males call at night from shrubs or other low vegetation but apparently not from high in trees. Females may be more terrestrial (when they are not attracted to calling males), but this is not known. Calls that differ from the presumed advertisement call have been heard in a call-response sequence between two individuals, suggesting a territorial function.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Food habits have not been studied, but small invertebrates must be the mainstay.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

The presumed advertisement call is a rattling sound lasting up to three seconds. The presence of large, heavily yolked eggs in females essentially confirms that this species, like other microhylids in New Guinea, has direct embryonic development, but this remains to be verified by the discovery of eggs and an associated parent.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened. As a widely distributed species, the horned land frog is less likely than many others to be exterminated by destruction of rainforest.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.