Cornufer vitiensis

The Levuka wrinkled ground frog or Fiji ground frog (Cornufer vitiensis) is a frog. It lives in some of the Fiji Islands. Scientists have seen it between 50 and 800 meters above sea level.[2][3][1]

Cornufer vitiensis
Fiji tree frog Tamara Osborne.JPG
Conservation status
NT (IUCN3.1Q)[1]
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Genus: Cornufer
Species:
C. vitiensis
Binomial name
Cornufer vitiensis
(Girard, 1853)
Synonyms[2]
  • Halophila vitiensis Girard, 1853
  • Halophilus vitiensis Girard, 1858
  • Halophila chryseus Cope, 1862
  • Hylodes (Halophilus) chryseus Cope, 1862
  • Cornufer intermedius Müller, 1883
  • Cornufer vitiensis Van Kampen, 1923
  • Platymantis vitiensis Zweifel, 1967
  • Cornufer (Cornufer) vitiensis Brown, Siler, Richards, Diesmos, and Cannatella, 2015

The adult male frog is about 32-45 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 47-60 mm. It has disks on its toes for climbing but the ones on its front feet are much larger than the ones on its back feet. The skin on the frog's back can be any of many different colors: gray, orange, yellow, gray-green but never green. Some have a white or yellow stripe on their backs.[3]

This frog can swim and jump very well. When this frog jumps, it twists in the air. This way, when it hits the ground, it can jump again in a different direction. It does this to jump away from animals that want to eat it.[3]

The female frog lays 20-40 eggs at one time. She lays them on plants. The eggs hatch into frogs. They are never tadpoles.[3]

Unlike most frog species, the female and male frogs both sing. However, the female frog sounds different because she has no vocal sac and the male frog does have one.[3]

There are fewer of these frogs than there were. This is mostly because human beings cut down the trees and forests where the frog lives. Snakes, mongooses, and other animals also catch and eat this frog.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Solomon Wrinkled Ground Frog: Cornufer vitiensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 3.1: e.T58484A176224215. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T58484A176224215.en. 58484. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Frost, Darrel R. "Cornufur vitiensis (Girard, 1853)". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Clare Morrison (February 2, 2004). Tate Tunstall (ed.). "Cornufer vitiensis (Girard, 1853): Fiji Ground Frog". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved December 15, 2022.