Litoria watjulumensis (Copland, 1957)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Watjulum frog (Litoria watjulumensis) from El Questro, the Kimberleys, Western Australia.
Evan Pickett · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Wotjulum frog (Litoria watjulumensis) is a species of frog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae. Its habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and rocky areas.
Litoria watjulumensis was named for Watjulum Mission in the north of Western Australia, sometimes spelled 'wotjulum'. This has led to variants in the common names and the specific epithet, repeating the spelling of Tyler's publication as Hyla wotjulumensis. The common names include Watjulum or Wotjulum frog, Watjulum Mission tree frog, and giant or large rocket frog.
The publication of the species was based on a type collection by Copland. The collection, of 29 specimens at the Western Australian Museum, was reassigned as three syntypes; for this species, Litoria coplandi, and Litoria peronii. The type for Litoria watjulumensis was collected near Watjulum mission "close to Yampi Sound, north of King Sound".
Wikipedia contributors, Watjulum frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T17:03:58.972295+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Litoria watjulumensis (Copland, 1957)
- Name authority
- (Copland, 1957)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Pelodryadidae
- Genus
- Litoria
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyPelodryadidae Günther, 1858
- genusLitoria Tschudi, 1838
- speciesLitoria watjulumensis (Copland, 1957)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Litoria. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Litoria nigrofrenata (Günther, 1867) | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria pallida Davies, Martin & Watson, 1983 | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria spaldingi (Hosmer, 1964) | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria axillaris Doughty, 2011 | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria coplandi (Tyler, 1968) | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria freycineti Tschudi, 1838 | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria inermis (Peters, 1867) | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria latopalmata Günther, 1867 | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria nasuta (Gray, 1842) | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria personata Tyler, Davies & Martin, 1978 | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria staccato Doughty & Anstis, 2007 | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Litoria tornieri (Nieden, 1923) | PelodryadidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hyla wotjulumensis Copland, 1957 Copland, 1957 | synonym |
| Litoria wotjulumensis (Copland, 1957) (Copland, 1957) | synonym |
| Hyla latopalmata watjulumensis Copland, 1957 Copland, 1957 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=662976 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3VMQ8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.