The forest area in which this frog lives is a remnant patch of a larger forest with trees in the surrounding area being felled for agricultural development, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the frog's conservation status as critically endangered.

Callulina laphami is a robust species of brevicipitid frog with a plump body and distinctive ridges of glands on its arms and legs.

It hides under rocks or logs during the day and at night can be found clambering in bushes and low trees a metre or two off the ground.

[4] Its breeding habits are unknown but it is likely that juvenile frogs develop directly from eggs laid on the ground without an intervening larval stage.

[1] The block of forest in which C. laphami lives has an area of about 16.5 km2 (6.4 sq mi) and is surrounded by cleared land which is unsuitable habitat for this forest-dwelling species.