A new species of Litoria (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) from the foothills of the Foja Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Litoria gasconi sp. nov. is described from low, forest-covered ridges on the southern edge of the Foja Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia. It is most similar to Litoria multiplica (Tyler, 1964) but can be differentiated from that species and all other described Litoria by a unique combination of characters including moderate size (males 39.3–41.6 SVL), green dorsum with yellow spots in life, relatively large eyes (EYE/SVL 0.12–0.15), dermal ridges below the vent and on the posterior edge of both fore and hindlimbs, complete absence of blue thigh and lateral colouration, and its unique advertisement call consisting of a single soft, distinctly pulsed chirp. New data on the morphology and ecology of the superficially similar and poorly known species Litoria multiplica are also presented. Recent surveys in the Foja Mountains have revealed a diverse frog fauna with numerous unrecognised or poorly known taxa; these ranges are likely to be a previously unrecognised and largely unexplored centre of tropical vertebrate endemism.