Kalophrynus calciphilus Dehling 2011
Creators: name: Zug, George R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Microhylidae
Kalophrynus
Kalophrynus calciphilus

description: Kalophrynus calciphilus Dehling, 2011
Limestone Sticky Frog
Kalophrynus calciphilus Dehling, 2011, Zootaxa 2737:51 [type locality: “close to the northern entrance of Gua Bulansusu (Moonmilk Cave) on Batu Bungan, ca. 200 m a.s.l., Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia ”].
TYPE MATERIAL.— HOLOTYPE: Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern 1056261. PARATYPES: BMNH 1978.1611–1615, FMNH 171777, NMBE 1056262–263. All by original designation.
DEFINITION.— Small, adult females 35.5–38. 8 mm SVL (n = 2), adult males 29.7–30. 1 mm SVL (n = 2); head moderately long 31 % HeadL/ SVL; head wider than long 119 % HeadW/HeadL; naris closer to snout than to eye NA % NarEye/SnEye; eye moderately large 38 % EyeD/HeadL; tympanum visible and distinctly smaller than eye 54 % Tymp/EyeD; slender moderately long forelimb NA % Forarm/ SVL and forearm to crus length NA % Forarm/CrusL; hindlimb slender and long 183 % HndlL/ SVL, 43 % CrusL/ SVL, and 96 % CrusL/ThghL; hindfoot well developed 84 % HndfL/CrusL. Proportions from holotype only.
Vomerine teeth absence; vomerine fold paired and crenulated, condition of other palatal fold morphology not reported; tongue broad and not bifurcated. Adult males with series of spiny tubercles on rear half of mandible.
Fingers with slight basal web; lengths 3>2>1>4; tips rounded and not dilated; subarticular tubercles distinct, round, and one on digits 1, 2, 4, and two on 3; one large palmar tubercle on outer half of palm, bordered distally by four small, round tubercles. No nuptial pad or asperities present. Toes modestly webbed not extending to proximal subarticular tubercle of toe 4, lengths 4>3>5>2>1; tips rounded, slightly dilated; subarticular tubercles large, round and one on digits 1, 2, two on 3, three on 4, none on 5; large, elongate inner and small, round outer metatarsal tubercles.
In life and at night, dorsum and sides of head and body black from tip of snout to end of trunk; narrow white oblique stripe from tip of snout, passing above eye and tympanum to lower inguinal area; venter from chin to anterior belly fading to dusky thereafter; chest and anterior belly with scattered white spots. During day, dorsum and sides lighten to a medium brown.
ETYMOLOGY.— The specific name derives from the Latin calx for limestone and the Latinized Greek suffix philus for “who is attracted to” combined to denote this species affinity to karst forest.
DISTRIBUTION.— Sarawak, Borneo. Known only from the karst forest in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak.
NATURAL HISTORY.— Kalophrynus calciphilus is a terrestrial species, apparently confined to karst forest. It calls day and night from the entrance of small burrows in the soil and owing to the absent of standing water in the karst forest, it is hypothesized that eggs are laid in these burrows and possibly “guarded” by the male.
COMMENTS.— Preceding information extracted from Dehling (2011).
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 page 157, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11512244