After the “Lilliputian frog” from Bolivia, make way for the “chocolate frog” from New Guinea. In a study published at the end of May by the magazine Australian Journal of Zoology, scientists reveal they have identified a new species of tree frog with all brown skin.
It was in 2016 that the small amphibian was first spotted by Steve Richards, a specialist at the South Australian Museum. It has appeared in swamp forests located in the Purari River basin in southern New Guinea.
“Maybe that’s why it took so long to find this frog“, specified at Guardian Dr. Richards, co-author of the report. “It is swampy, thorny, there are plenty of mosquitoes that carry malaria, there are floods, crocodiles and few roads. It’s a really nasty place to work“.
A species in its own right
With the exception of its chocolate color, the amphibian bears a very strong resemblance to Australian tree frogs. Litoria caerulea which are generally green. The researchers therefore had to conduct in-depth analyzes to find out what they were dealing with.
Five years later, Dr. Richards and his colleagues are categorical: the animal is well enough different from others to be considered a species in its own right. They named her Litoria mira, the term sight being derived from a Latin adjective meaning “surprised” or “strange”.
“We named it so because it was surprising to find in the forests of New Guinea an unknown cousin of the Australian green tree frog which is widespread and well known.“, highlighted in a press release first author of the study, Dr. Paul Oliver of the Queensland Museum.
Thanks to the comparisons made, scientists can now say that L. mira is smaller than its Australian cousin – its maximum size is around 80 mm against 100 mm for the second – and has a narrower head, in addition to its all-chocolate dress.
Explore the history of Australia and New Guinea
If the characteristics of this “chocolate frog” surprise researchers, the discovery of a new species is not totally unexpected. Dr. Richards has identified no less than 200 on the island, whose biodiversity is particularly rich and where many endemic species evolve.
L. mira nevertheless delivers valuable information on the history of Australia and New Guinea. The two territories today show very different habitats but we know that they remained connected during most of the Tertiary, until 2.6 million years ago.
Genetic comparisons between L. mira and her cousin L. caerulea suggest that a connection still existed between the Australian and New Guinean environments during the Pliocene, between 5 and 2.6 million years ago. It was only then that the habitats and species would have diverged.
“Although New Guinea is not a place that most Australians are familiar with, it does share many groups of animals. Understanding New Guinea’s biodiversity therefore helps us explore the history and origins of Australia’s unique wildlife.“confirmed Dr. Richards.
If the New Guinean chocolate frog has only just been highlighted, researchers believe it could be widespread on the island. As the species evolves in habitats that are not very accessible, little exploited and where the human presence remains low, it is not, according to them, threatened.
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