Kalophrynus heterochirus Boulenger 1900
Creators: name: Zug, George R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Microhylidae
Kalophrynus
Kalophrynus heterochirus

description: Kalophrynus heterochirus Boulenger, 1900 Short-fingered Sticky Frog
Calophrynus heterochirus Boulenger, 1900, Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London 1900:186 [type locality: “Borneo (no precise locality)”].
TYPE MATERIAL.— HOLOTYPE: Sarawak Museum according to the original description. Parker (1934) reported BMNH 1909.8.18. 6–7 (now 1947.2.11. 38–41) as syntypes; see Comments.
DEFINITION.— Small to medium size, adult females 30.5–32. 9 mm SVL (n = 6), adult males 24.1–27. 2 mm SVL (n = 10); head moderately long NA % HeadL/ SVL; head slightly wider than long NA % HeadW/HeadL; naris closer to snout than to eye NA % NarEye/SnEye; eye moderately large NA % EyeD/HeadL; tympanum visible and smaller than eye ~50 % Tymp/EyeD; slender forelimb NA % Forarm/ SVL and forearm to crus length NA % Forarm/CrusL; hindlimb moderately slender NA % HndlL/ SVL, NA % CrusL/ SVL, and NA % CrusL/ThghL; hindfoot well developed NA % HndfL/CrusL.
Vomerine teeth presence or absence not reported; vomerine fold transverse interrupted medially, morphology of others not reported; tongue large and ovate.
Fingers not webbed; lengths 3>2>1>4, fourth nub-like; tips rounded and not dilated; subarticular tubercles present, shape and numbers on digits not reported; fleshy palmar tubercle, size and shape not reported. Toes one-third webbed, web extending to distal subarticular tubercle of toe 3, lengths 4>3>5>2>1; tips rounded, not dilated; subarticular tubercles present, number and shapes not reported, except none of fifth; inner and outer metatarsal tubercles poorly developed.
Color in life, dorsum purplish brown and largely immaculate, no inguinal ocelli, rather one or more bluish white spots; narrow white stripe extending from canthus rostralis above eye and typmpanum diagonally to mid inguina; venter whitish immaculate or variously dusky on throat and anterior chest.
ETYMOLOGY.— Boulenger did not explain his selection of heterochirus. The Greek heteros for other or different and cheir for hand, i.e., different hand, likely to highlight the small, nub-like fourth finger of this species.
DISTRIBUTION.— Borneo. Inger (1966) reports it from western Sarawak and northeastern West Kalimantan.
NATURAL HISTORY.— All K. heterochirus have been found on the floor of hilly primary forest.
COMMENTS.— Preceding information extracted from Boulenger (1900), Smith (1922), and Inger (1966). Parker’s (1934) listing of syntypes in The Natural History Museum, London (= BMNH) is in error. Boulenger (1900) specifically stated “Type in Sarawak Museum.” thereby indicating only a single type. Additionally, no one has demonstrated that the type and other specimens were transferred from Sarawak to London.
description: Published as part of Zug, George R., 2015, Morphology and Systematics of Kalophrynus interlineatus-pleurostigma Populations (Anura: Microhylidae: Kalophryninae) and a Taxonomy of the Genus Kalophrynus Tschudi, Asian Sticky Frogs, pp. 135-190 in Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 62 (5) on pages 159-160, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11512244