Kalophrynus nubicola Dring 1983

Overview & Synopsis

Kalophrynus nubicola Dring, 1983 Blue-spotted Sticky FrogKalophrynus nubicola Dring, 1983, Amphibia-Reptilia 4:103 [type locality: “camp four 1800 m, Gunung Mulu [National Park], Fourth Division, Sarawak”, Malaysia, Borneo].TYPE MATERIAL.— HOLOTYPE: British Museum of Natural History 1978.69. PARATYPES: BMNH 1978.66–68, 1978.1553–1558; Sarawak Museum not numbered/tagged. All by original designation.DEFINITION.— Small, adult females 21.4–24. 1 mm SVL (n = 3) adult male 19.3–20. 1 mm SVL, sexually dimorphic in size but proportions do not differ; head modest length 30 % HeadL/ SVL; head wider than long 37 % HeadW/ SVL; snout moderately broad 9 % SnW/ SVL; naris closer to snout than to eye 5 % NarEye/ SVL; eye moderately large 12 % EyeD/ SVL; tympanum indistinct and smaller than eye 40 % Tymp/EyeD; moderate length forelimb NA % Forarm/ SVL and forearm equal crus length NA % Forarm/CrusL; hindlimb moderately long NA % NA % HndlL/ SVL, 40 % CrusL/ SVL, and NA % CrusL/ThghL; hindfoot well developed NA % HndfL/CrusL.Vomerine teeth presence or absence not reported; vomerine fold not reported, postorbital fold short and crenulated, buccal fold bony with fleshy crenulated edge; tongue size and shape not reported.Fingers with weak fleshy web extending along edge of fingers as ridge; lengths 3>2>1>4, fourth nub-like; tips rounded and slightly flatten; subarticular tubercles indistinct or absent; palmar tubercle indistinct or absent; no nuptial pad on hand. Toes about one-third webbed, lengths 4>3≈5>2>1; tips not reported; subarticular tubercles absent or single flesh pad covering length of toe; large oval inner metatarsal tubercle, outer absent.In life, dorsum brown with faint dark mottling, yellow chevron edged with dark brown on snout in some individuals; no inguinal ocelli, occasionally with yellowish patches in groin; lores and temporal area not darker than dorsum; ventrally throat and chest orange with dark brown mottling, posteriorly belly and underside of thighs with light blue spots on brown background.ETYMOLOGY.— The specific epithet derives from the Latin nubicolus for sky-dwelling and refers to its high elevation occurrence.DISTRIBUTION.— This species occurs widely in upper slopes of Gunung Mulu, Sarawak.NATURAL HISTORY.— Kalophrynus nubicola is a terrestrial frog of the high-elevation forest, oak-laurel or ericaceous. It appears to chorus only during the day.COMMENTS.— Preceding information extracted from Dring (1983).