Choerophryne gunnari
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Choerophryne gunnari

Choerophryne gunnari is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and is known from the area of its type locality in the Central Province, and from the western slopes of Mount Obree, also in the Central Province.

Animal name origin

This species was originally described in the genus Albericus, named for Alberich, the dwarf in Scandinavian mythology and Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Menzies named the species he described after Alberich's companions in the mythodology. The specific name gunnari is derived from Gunnar.

Appearance

Ten individuals in the type series measure 14.3–20.9 mm (0.56–0.82 in) in snout–urostyle length. The largest male was 16.4 mm (0.65 in) and a female was 21.2 mm (0.83 in) (reason for the discrepancy is unexplained). Six of the types were examined later and found to be males, measuring 15.4–21.7 mm (0.61–0.85 in) in snout–vent length. The dorsal surface has a large, dark hour-glass mark on a greyish background. The ventral ground colour is whitish, but the throat is dark in both males and females. The belly has a large, dark, intense blue blotch, and hind limbs are marked with blue blotches alternating between lighter and darker shades. This blue pigmentation is unique among all former Albericus species known at the time.

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The male advertisement call is said to lack "musical quality". It is a series of "clicks" emitted at a mean rate of 240 min–1.

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Geography

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Biome

References

1. Choerophryne gunnari Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choerophryne_gunnari
2. Choerophryne gunnari on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/57665/152548084

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