Washington, Sept 22 (ANI): Three new species of tiny frogs have been discovered in Papua New Guinea.
University of Michigan's Dr Fred Kraus, who described the world's smallest frogs Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa in Zookeys in 2011, now adds another 3 species from the genus Oreophryne to the remarkable diversity of this region.
The three new species Oreophryne cameroni, Oreophryne parkopanorum and Oreophryne gagneorum are all rather minute, with total body lengths of around 20 mm.
These tiny frogs, however are still substantially larger than the species that claimed the smallest frog prize in 2011.
Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa are only half of the length of the three new additions to the frog diversity of Papua New Guinea, with an astonishingly small body size ranging between 8-9 mm.
The subfamily to which the new species belong is largely restricted to New Guinea and its satellite islands.
Of the constituent genera, Oreophryne is presently one of the largest within the Papuan Region. (ANI)
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