Three New Species of Tiny Frogs Discovered in Papa New Guinea
Posted on September 20, 2013
Three new species of tiny frogs have been discovered in Papua New Guinea. They were discovered by Dr. Fred Kraus from the University of Michigan. The new frogs are all from the genus Oreophryne. The three new species - Oreophryne cameroni, Oreophryne parkopanorum and Oreophryne gagneorum - have total body lengths of around 20 mm.
Oreophryne cameroni from Keki Lodge, Adelbert Mountain Range is pictured above. Oreophryne parkopanorum, pictured below, was found near the summit of Mt. Sapau. The third photo shows Oreophryne gagneorum, a tiny frog species that lives on Rossel Island.
More Oreophryne species will be described in the future. Dr. Kraus says he has at least 12 more that still have not been described and he suspects more will be found in areas that have not yet been surveyed.
Dr. Kraus said in the announcement, "Although the description of the new species treated herein now brings to seven the number of Oreophryne species reported from the north-coast region of New Guinea, the presence from these areas of additional specimens of uncertain identity suggests that additional species likely await description. I have at least a dozen more new Oreophryne species remaining to be described from this region, and large portions of this terrane system remain unsurveyed."
Dr. Kraus discovered two frogs that were the world's smallest in Papua New Guinea in 2011. An even smaller microfrog was discovered in New Guinea in 2012.
The research was published here in ZooKeys.
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