‘Long’-legged creature with ‘melodious’ call found in rainforest. It’s a new species
In a rainforest of Papua New Guinea, a “long”-legged creature sat near a stream and made a “peeping” noise, likely intended to attract a mate. The “melodious” sound caught the attention of an unintended audience: nearby scientists.
As they soon discovered, the noisy animal turned out to be a new species.
A team of researchers ventured into the lowland rainforest of Gulf Province several times between 2011 and 2016 to survey wildlife, according to a study published March 14 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The province was generally known for its “rich” variety of frogs and toads, but some areas remained “poorly known.”
The team hoped to change that.
During their hikes, researchers heard “harmonic notes sounding like ’eep-eep-eep’” and followed the sound to some frogs near a stream, the study said. They captured a few frogs, took a closer look and soon realized they’d discovered a new species: Cophixalus flavopunctatus, or the yellow-dotted narrow-mouthed frog.
Yellow-dotted narrow-mouthed frogs are considered “small,” reaching just over half an inch long, the study said. They have “short” heads with multi-colored eyes, a “protruding” snout and “strap-shaped” tongue. Their skin is “smooth” with some bumps, and their legs are “long.”
Photos show the brown blotchy coloring of the new species. Its body is covered in an irregular mix of dark brown patches, ivory splotches and yellow-orange bumps.
Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin phrase “flavopunctatus,” meaning “yellow” and “dotted,” because of its colorful bumps.
Yellow-dotted narrow-mouthed frogs live in lowland rainforests and were usually found “on the forest floor” near creeks, the study said. The frogs’ “calling activity appears to peak in the early morning and evening when males produce a train of melodious peeping notes.”
So far, the new species has been found at a few sites in the Purari River Basin of Gulf Province, the study said. The province sits along the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, an island country north of Australia.
The new species was identified by its call, size, body proportions, coloring, finger and toe shape and other subtle physical features, the study said. Researchers did not provide a DNA analysis.
The research team included Rainer Günther, Elizah Nagombi and Stephen Richards. The team also discovered a second new species of narrow-mouthed frog.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 12:58 PM with the headline "‘Long’-legged creature with ‘melodious’ call found in rainforest. It’s a new species."
