Two New Treefrogs from Normanby Island, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

We describe two new species of lowland Litoria from Normanby Island, off the southeastern tip of New Guinea. One new species is a medium-sized member of the Litoria thesaurensis species group and differs from the other three members of that group in having a combination of white bones, extensive webbing, a loud quacking call, and a uniformly yellow color pattern. The second species is apparently a member of the Litoria bicolor species group and differs from other Papuan members of that group in a number of important morphological features (relative head shape, absence of vomerine teeth, absence of alary processes on the hyoid) that suggest the L. bicolor species group may not be a monophyletic assemblage. Both new species are currently known with certainty only from Normanby Island but seem likely to occupy at least the remainder of the D'Entrecasteaux archipelago as well.