Litoria watjulumensis (Copland, 1957)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hylidae > Subfamily: Pelodryadinae > Genus: Litoria > Species: Litoria watjulumensis

Hyla latopalmata watjulumensis Copland, 1957, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 82: 13, 96. Syntypes: WAM R6011 R10491, R10499, and R10501 (Napier), R 8733–34 (Thompson's Spring, Argyle Station), R.11195–99, 11633–35, 11638, 11896–907, 11932–39 (Watjulum Mission), MCZ 18000 (Kimberley Division). Shea and Sadlier, 1999, Tech. Rep. Aust. Mus., 15: 6, regarded AMS R6011 as a syntype. Tyler, 1968, Rec. S. Aust. Mus., 15: 713, who noted that the original type series was composed of Litoria watjulumensis, Litoria coplandi, and Litoria peronii); AMS R6011 considered possibly a syntype by Cogger, 1979, Rec. Aust. Mus., 32: 175. WAM R11896 designated lectotype by Donnellan, Catalano, Pederson, Mitchell, Suhendran, Price, Doughty, and Richards, 2021, Zootaxa, 4933: 220. Type localities: "Napier, Broom Bay, W[estern]. A[ustralia].", "Watjulum [= Wotjulum] Mission, W[estern]. A[ustralia.], "Thompson's Spring, Argyle Station", Western Australia, "Kimberley Division", Western Australia; restricted to Watjulum [= Wotjulum] Mission, Western Australia by Tyler, 1968, Rec. S. Aust. Mus., 15: 713. Lectotype locality is "Wotjulum, Western Australia (16°11’ S, 123°37’ E)"

Hyla wotjulumensis — Tyler, 1968, Rec. S. Aust. Mus., 15: 713. Incorrect subsequent spelling of Hyla watjulumensis Copland, 1957.

Litoria wotjulumensis — Tyler, 1971, Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., 19: 355; Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 5; Tyler and Knight, 2009, Field Guide Frogs Aust.: 48. Incorrect subsequent spelling of species name.

Common Names

Watjulum Frog (Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2: 79; Reynolds, 2007, N. Terr. Nat., 19: 63; Cogger, 2018, Rept. Amph. Australia, 7th ed.: 194).

Wotjulum Frog (Reynolds, 2007, N. Terr. Nat., 19: 63; Tyler and Doughty, 2009, Field Guide Frogs W. Aust., 4th ed.: 86; Tyler and Knight, 2009, Field Guide Frogs Aust.: 48).

Watjulum Mission Treefrog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 60; Reynolds, 2007, N. Terr. Nat., 19: 63).

Giant Rocketfrog (Ingram, Nattrass, and Czechura, 1993, Mem. Queensland Mus., 33: 222; Reynolds, 2007, N. Terr. Nat., 19: 63).

Large Rocketfrog (Reynolds, 2007, N. Terr. Nat., 19: 63).

Distribution

Kimberley region of north-western Australia and the Victoria River system of the western Northern Territory. See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Australia

Endemic: Australia

Comment

In the Litoria nigrofrenata group of Tyler and Davies, 1978, Aust. J. Zool., Suppl. Ser., 27 (63): 36. In the Litoria lesueuri complex, Litoria latopalmata group, according to Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2: 59). See account by Tyler and Doughty, 2009, Field Guide Frogs W. Aust., 4th ed.: 86. See Ellis, Doughty, and Roberts, 2017, Rec. W. Aust. Mus., 32: 22–24, for comments on the type series of Hyla watjulumensis and Hyla spaldingi. Donnellan, Catalano, Pederson, Mitchell, Suhendran, Price, Doughty, and Richards, 2021, Zootaxa, 4933: 211–240, revised Litoria watjulumensis with the resurrection of Litoria spaldingi, meaning that literature from prior to this partition should be used with caution. Cogger, 2018, Rept. Amph. Australia, 7th ed.: 194, provided a brief account, photograph, and polygon distribution map. Cutajar, Portway, Gillard, and Rowley, 2022, Tech. Rep. Aust. Mus. Online, 36: 33, provided a polygon distribution map.

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