Litoria watjulumensis (Copland, 1957)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pelodryadidae > Subfamily: Litoriinae > 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.

English Names

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

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

Watjulum Frog (Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2: 79; Reynolds, 2007, N. Terr. Nat., 19: 63).

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).

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. 

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. 

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