Biologists have discovered a new species of the terrestrially-nesting fanged frog genus Limnonectes living on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The species has the smallest adult body size among all Limnonectes frogs from the island — with a maximum snout-vent length of about 3 cm (1.2 inches).
Limnonectes is a large genus of fork-tongued frogs in the family Dicroglossidae.
The genus includes over 75 scientifically recognized species. They are collectively known as fanged frogs because they tend to have unusually large teeth, which are small or absent in other frogs.
They use their fangs to battle with each other over territory and mates, and sometimes even to hunt tough-shelled prey like giant centipedes and crabs.
Limnonectes species are distributed from India to China and Indochina, through the Thai-Malaysia Peninsula, and across the Sunda Shelf landmasses (Borneo, Sumatra, and Java), the Malukus, the Lesser Sunda island chain, parts of western New Guinea, and the Philippines.
Large-bodied species prefer fast rivers, while smaller ones live among leaf-litter or on stream banks.
“Fanged frogs are stunningly complex in their reproductive biology,” said Field Museum of Natural History researcher Jeffrey Frederick and his colleagues.
“For example, two Malay species, Limnonectes hascheanus and Limnonectes limborgi, exhibit terrestrial egg guarding by males in conjunction with nidicolous larval ontogeny: larvae hatch as free-living tadpoles yet remain in a nest guarded by the male, surviving solely on nutrients from the yolk sack.”
“Four species of Limnonectes from Borneo, Limnonectes kuhlii, Limnonectes blythii, Limnonectes ibanorum, and Limnonectes ingeri are ‘voiceless,’ lacking a vocal sack for advertisement calling.”
The newly-described species, named Limnonectes phyllofolia, lives on Sulawesi, a rugged, mountainous island that makes up part of Indonesia.
“Sulawesi is a giant island with a vast network of mountains, volcanoes, lowland…
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