Uperoleia talpa Tyler, Davies, and Martin, 1981

Catullo, Renee A., Doughty, Paul, Roberts, Dale & Keogh, Scott, 2011, Multi-locus phylogeny and taxonomic revision of Uperoleia toadlets (Anura: Myobatrachidae) from the western arid zone of Australia, with a description of a new species, Zootaxa 2902, pp. 1-43 : 21-23

Uperoleia talpa Tyler, Davies, and Martin, 1981

Mole Toadlet

Glauertia mjobergii, Barker and Grigg, 1977 , p. 199

Uperoleia talpa Tyler, Davies, and Martin, 1981 Aust. J. Zool., Suppl. Ser. 79, 1–64

Holotype. WAM R62472, collected 24 km south of Derby (17º37’S, 123º36’E), Western Australia, on 13 February 1979 by M. Davies, A.A. Martin, and M.J. Tyler.

Paratypes. There are two paratypes, an adult female SAMA R17174 and an adult male WAM R62473: collected 24–41 km south of Derby, Western Australia, on 13 February 1979 by M. Davies, A.A. Martin, and M.J. Tyler.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from congeners by a combination of large body size (males 23.7–36.1 mm, females 24.2–40.8 mm SUL) with short limbs (TL/SUL 0.33± 0.02 [0.29–0.38]), narrow squarish snout (EN/IN 1.32±0.13 [1.09–1.66]), absence of maxillary teeth, extensively exposed frontoparietal fontanelle, bronze skin with darker markings that have a centered bright red tubercle, pale salmon or non-existent femoral patches, very large hypertrophied parotoid glands that extend posterior to arms, moderately-developed inguinal and coccygeal glands which are restricted to the rear portion of the body, skin flap at anterior portion of eye palely pigmented. Toes webbed to between first and second proximal tubercle on fourth toe, and broadly oval and exceptionally large inner and outer metatarsal tubercles. A high-pitched squelch as an advertisement call.

Description. Very large body size in relation to other Uperoleia , squat, thick, and rotund. Head is small, thick in depth with slightly protruding eyes. When viewed laterally, slightly sloping snout and flattened tip; when viewed from above, the sides of the snout slope in strongly and terminate in a short square tip. Canthus rostralis reasonably well-defined with gradual rounded edge; loreal region steep and slightly convex. Large rounded medial projection (synthesis of mentomeckelian bones) that matches notch on upper jaw. Nostrils directed upwards; nares with no visible rim. Anterior corner of eye covered by flap of skin, which is usually palely pigmented; at dorsal terminus the skin overlaps the skin of the brow above the eye. Posterior edge of brow projects just to side of head. Tympana covered by skin and parotoid glands. Tongue oval and elongate. Maxillary and vomerine teeth absent. Frontoparietal fontanelle extensively exposed ( Tyler et al. 1981). EN larger than IN (EN/IN 1.32±0.13 [1.09–1.66]).

Arms and hands thickly built. Arms are of moderate length (ArmL/SUL 0.41± 0.02 [0.37–0.45]) and the fingers are poorly fringed and unwebbed. Finger length 3>4>2>1. Tubercles under fingers moderately developed; one on first and second, two on third and fourth. Palmar tubercles slightly developed. Moderately developed outer palmar tubercle on distal portion of wrist. Nuptial pad of males on inner portion of first finger (beginning halfway down finger), extending to base of wrist (¼ along forearm) and slightly encroaching on palmar surface.

Legs short limbs (TL/SUL 0.33± 0.02 [0.29–0.38]) and of thick build. Toe length 4>3>5>2>1. Tubercles under toes moderately developed and conical; one on first and second, two on third and fifth, three on fourth. Toes moderately long, webbed to between first and second proximal tubercle, and moderately to strongly fringed. Webbing highly reduced between fourth and fifth toes. Large rounded inner metatarsal tubercle, slightly oriented along fifth toe. Outer metatarsal tubercle oval and oriented perpendicular to foot.

Smooth skin scattered with large tubercles on dorsum, with a raised mid-vertebral stripe. Ventral surface slightly granular. Cloacal flap present, moderately fimbriated in males and strongly fimbriated in large females. Parotoid gland extensively developed, starting from just behind eye and extending up 1/3 of body length; inguinal and coccygeal glands moderately developed and restricted to rear portion of body. Mandibular gland poorly developed, extensively disrupted when visible.

Coloration. Dorsal ground color is a dark bronze. Light brown patches are scattered across the ventral surface, frequently topped by an orange or red tubercle. Red tubercles are scattered across the ventral surface. Red tubercles form a dorso-lateral stripe extending from the snout frequently to the cloaca. Glands are pigmented in shades of red varying from light pink to crimson (Fig. 7). Femoral coloration, when present, is not extensive and appears in life as a subtle salmon wash. Ventral surface a pale off-white. Background pigment usually absent on upper inner thigh, with scattered white tubercles. Males have a darkly pigmented chin.

Advertisement call. Figure 6 d and 6e summarize the two calls recorded by individuals of U. talpa and Table 5 summarizes the call characteristics. The first call is a short squelch formed by 27–28 pulses, where up to 1/3 of the call duration is a low amplitude ‘tail’. The second call of U. talpa is a long squelch formed by 29–40 pulses. The long squelch is more common on nights of high calling activity.

Habitat. In the Kimberley, specimens have been collected from a variety of roadside ponds or swamps, with a mixture of Pandanus , Melaleuca , Acacia , and Eucalyptus vegetation. Specimens from near Port Hedland in the Pilbara have been collected from sandridges and red sandy loams; one was excavated from 8 cm under a Spinifex clump. As a microhabitat preference, U. talpa individuals prefer to be a sole occupant of an isolated grass clump or pile of leaf litter, with discrete spacing between individuals.

Distribution. Uperoleia talpa occurs in the Fitzroy River region near Broome and Derby, with recent records extending east as far as Fitzroy Crossing. They are further distributed south along Dampierland, a grassland between the Indian Ocean and the Great Sandy Desert, and in the eastern Roebourne Plain of the Pilbara region (Fig. 8d).

Etymology. The Latin word talpa (mole) refers to this species’ exceptionally large metatarsal tubercles and its efficiency as a burrower.

Comparisons with other species. In the western Kimberley, U. talpa is distinguishable from most other congeners by its large body size (23.7–40.8 mm SUL versus 19–25 mm in U. mjobergii ( Tyler & Doughty 2009) , robust habitus with narrow snout, moderate webbing between the toes, dark background color with only small dark red-tipped spots, large parotoid glands, and lack of glands on the sides; its call is a short high-pitched squelch which differs from other species with clicks ( U. aspera ) or longer-duration rasps ( U. mjobergii ) as calls.

In the eastern Roebourne Plain of the Pilbara region, it differs from U. glandulosa by larger body size (23.7– 40.8 mm SUL versus 20.6–27.5 mm), highly reduced inguinal glands, and a longer squelch (versus a sharp click) as an advertisement call; from U. micromeles by a narrow snout (EN/IN 1.17–1.61 versus 0.70–0.88), more extensive toe webbing, and darker background coloration (versus light brown); and from U. russelli by larger body size (23.7–40.8 mm SUL versus 20.9–33.0 mm) and small lighter brown dorsal spots (versus wide paravertebral blotches). It differs from the closely related U. saxatilis sp. nov. by a combination of characters including larger body size (23.7–40.8 mm SUL versus 24.0– 36.6 mm), larger parotoid glands, and less webbing between toes (webbed to first proximal tubercle or to between first and second proximal tubercles versus to between first and second proximal tubercles or to the second proximal tubercle). Dorsal coloration is very distinguishing, as U. talpa bronze with a few light brown patches frequently topped by reddish tubercles, and U. saxatilis sp. nov. is a darker brown with numerous irregular dark brown blotches and no red tubercles. Calls between U. talpa and U. saxatilis sp. nov. are highly divergent. Each species produces two calls with no overlap of call characters ( Table 5). The two calls of U. talpa have a high number of pulses when compared to U. saxatilis sp. nov. and this species does not have a long duration call (8.8 ms with 27–28 pulses per call and 12.6 ms with 33.5 pulses per call versus 21.6 ms with 21.3 pulses per call and 7.9 ms with 16.7 pulses per call).

Remarks. Tyler et al. (1981) only distinguished U. talpa from U. orientalis based on U. talpa being a stouter species with shorter fingers, having uniform coloration, and lacking the mid-vertebral stripe. However, the U. orientalis holotype was examined at the time of the U. talpa description, and M.J. Tyler has confirmed they are morphologically distinct (pers. comm.). Davies & Martin (1988) redescribed U. talpa based on a larger series of specimens, including a detailed description of the internal morphology.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Oscillographs and spectrograms of (a) U. glandulosa, U. russelli (b) long call and (c) short call, U. talpa (d) long call and (e) short call, and U. saxatilis sp. nov. (f) long call and (g) short call.