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Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(4)

Systematics of the Australo-Papuan tree frogs known as Litoria bicolor (Anura : Hylidae) in the Papuan region

J. I. Menzies A C , S. J. Richards B and M. J. Tyler A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

B Vertebrates Department, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: james.menzies@adelaide.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 56(4) 257-280 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO07068
Submitted: 12 December 2007  Accepted: 14 November 2008   Published: 22 December 2008

Abstract

We examined differences in morphology and advertisement calls of a large sample of frogs from the Australo-Papuan Region that resemble Litoria bicolor, and compared them with examples of that species from Australia. Consistent differences in body size, body proportions, and advertisement call structure among populations demonstrate that at least seven distinct species occur in the Australo-Papuan region, and that only the population represented by the holotype from the Northern Territory of Australia is Litoria bicolor s. s. Herein we describe four new species from the Papuan Region and comment on the origin and evolution of the Papuan members of the Litoria bicolor complex in the region.


Acknowledgements

The authors thank the South Australian Museum, the University of Adelaide and the University of Papua New Guinea for supporting their research. They also thank the various curators of overseas institutions who have assisted with the examination of specimens under their care and the very numerous field assistants who have accompanied Menzies and Richards in New Guinea and so made their research possible. Richards is grateful to the Worldwide Fund for Nature–PNG and to Conservation International for supporting his research in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. His research was approved by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and by the Department of Environment and Conservation, the National Research Institute and provincial authorities in Papua New Guinea.


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