Nyctimystes
Nyctimystes is a genus of tree frogs in the family Pelodryadidae. Most of them are from Papua New Guinea but some live on the Moluccas islands. Some scientists think Nyctimystes should be considered part of Litoria, another genus of frogs from New Guinea. Other scientists think that it is right to say Nyctimystes is its own genus.[1][2]
All frogs in Nyctimystes have marks on their lower eyelids: lines, veins, or dots. Scientists think this helps the frog harder to see so it can hide from larger animals that want to eat it.[3] Scientists tell Nyctimystes frogs apart from Litoria frogs because Nyctimystes frogs have vertical (up and down) pupils in their eyes and Litoria frogs have horizontal (side to side) pupils in their eyes.[4]
These frogs live in tropical or subtropical rainforests on mountains. Their eggs are large and scientists have seen many of them laying eggs on underwater objects in fast-flowing creeks and streams, enough that they think all Nyctimystes frogs do this. The tadpoles have large sucker-mouths and streamlined bodies with large, muscular tails. All Nyctimystes frogs have webbed feet and large discs on their toes for climbing.
Scientists say most Nyctimystes frogs became separate species during the Miocene era, about 10 to 22 million years ago.[5]
The name comes from the Greek nycktos for "night" and myst meaning "mist." Together they refer to "mysteries of the night."[5]
Species
Many of these frogs are few in number in the wild, and scientists do not know much about most of them.[6] Scientists often write papers saying a frog species should be renamed and moved from Nyctimystes into Litoria or Ranoidea, so the list below may change:
- Nyctimystes avocalis Zweifel, 1958 – Loud big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes bivocalis Kraus, 2012
- Nyctimystes brevipalmatus (Tyler, Martin, and Watson, 1972) – Green-thighed frog
- Nyctimystes calcaratus Menzies, 2014
- Nyctimystes cheesmani Tyler, 1964 – Cheesman’s big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes cryptochrysos Kraus, 2012
- Nyctimystes daymani Zweifel, 1958 – Dayman big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes disruptus Tyler, 1963 – Madang big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes dux (Richards and Oliver, 2006)
- Nyctimystes eucavatus Menzies, 2014
- Nyctimystes fluviatilis Zweifel, 1958 – Indonesian big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes foricula Tyler, 1963 – Kaironk big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes gramineus (Boulenger, 1905) – Northern New Guinea treefrog
- Nyctimystes granti (Boulenger, 1914) – Grant's big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes gularis Parker, 1936 – Mondo big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes humeralis (Boulenger, 1912) – Green big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes hunti (Richards, Oliver, Dahl, and Tjaturadi, 2006)
- Nyctimystes infrafrenatus (Günther, 1867) – White-lipped tree frog
- Nyctimystes intercastellus Kraus, 2012
- Nyctimystes kubori Zweifel, 1958 – Sandy big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes kuduki Richards, 2007
- Nyctimystes latratus Menzies, 2014
- Nyctimystes lubisi (Oliver, Günther, Tjaturadi, and Richards, 2021)
- Nyctimystes montanus (Peters et Doria, 1878) – Mountain big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes myolae Menzies, 2014
- Nyctimystes multicolor (Günther, 2004) – Multi-coloured tree frog
- Nyctimystes narinosus Zweifel, 1958 – Common big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes nullicedens (Kraus, 2018)
- Nyctimystes obsoletus (Lönnberg, 1900) – Simbang big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes ocreptus Menzies, 2014
- Nyctimystes pallidofemora (Kraus, 2018)
- Nyctimystes papua (Boulenger, 1897) – Papua big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes perimetri Zweifel, 1958 – Archipelago big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes persimilis (Zweifel, 1958) – Milne big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes pterodactyla (Oliver, Richards, and Donnellan, 2019) – Pale-eyed parachuting tree frog
- Nyctimystes pulcher (Wandolleck, 1911) – Spurred big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes purpureolatus (Oliver, Richards, Tjaturadi, and Iskandar, 2007)
- Nyctimystes sanguinolenta (Van Kampen, 1909) – Sabang tree frog
- Nyctimystes sauroni (Richards and Oliver, 2006)
- Nyctimystes semipalmatus Parker, 1936 – Kokoda big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes trachydermis Zweifel, 1983 – Morobe big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes traunae Menzies, 2014
- Nyctimystes tyleri Zweifel, 1983 – Tyler's big-eyed tree frog
- Nyctimystes zweifeli Tyler, 1967 – Zweifel's big-eyed tree frog
References
- ↑ James I. Menzies (2014). "Notes on tree frogs, Nyctimystes species (Anura: Hylidae) of New Guinea; the Nyctimystes papua species group". Alytes. 31 (3–4): 59–76. S2CID 86200165.
- ↑ R. Günther, R. (2008). "Two new hylid frogs (Anura: Hylidae: Litoria) from western New Guinea. (Abstract)". Vertebrate Zoology. 58 (1): 83–92. doi:10.3897/vz.58.e30913. S2CID 131314540.
- ↑ Stephen J. Richards (2007). "A new species of Nyctimystes (Anura, Hylidae) from Papua New Guinea and comments on poorly-known members of the genus". Phyllomedusa. 6 (2): 105–118. doi:10.11606/issn.2316-9079.v6i2p105-118. ISSN 1519-1397. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ↑ James I. Menzies (2014). "Notes on Nyctimystes (Anura: Hylidae), tree frogs of New Guinea, with descriptions of four new species". Alytes. 30: 42–68. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 William E. Duellman; Angela B. Marion; S. Blair Hedges (April 19, 2016). "Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the treefrogs (Amphibia: Anura: Arboranae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. Magnolia Press. 4104 (1): 51. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4104.1.1. ISSN 1175-5326. PMID 27394762. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
- ↑ "Nyctimystes Stejneger, 1916 | Amphibian Species of the World". research.amnh.org. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
- The IUCN Redlist - Nyctimystes
- Barker, J.; Grigg, G.C.; Tyler, M.J. (1995). A Field Guide to Australian Frogs. Surrey Beatty & Sons.