Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus

Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus is a species of frog in the family Phrynobatrachidae. It is endemic to the Central African Republic and is only known from its type locality, Bouala (originally spelled "Buala"), at 998 m (3,274 ft) above sea level on the Ouham River.[1][2][3] Common name Chad river frog has been coined for this species.[2][4] This name presumably reflects the earlier assumption that the type locality was in Chad, into which the Ouham River flows.[3]

Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus is only known from the holotype collected from Bouala in the Central African Republic

Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Phrynobatrachidae
Genus: Phrynobatrachus
Species:
P. pygmaeus
Binomial name
Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus
(Ahl, 1925)
Synonyms[2]
  • Arthroleptis pygmaeus Ahl, 1925 "1923"
  • Micrarthroleptis pygmaeus (Ahl, 1925)

Etymology

Presumably, this species is named for the Latin pygmaeus, meaning "dwarfish".[4]

Taxonomy

Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus was described by German zoologist Ernst Ahl in 1925 based a single specimen, the holotype.[3] Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus is the type species of the genus Micrarthroleptis erected in 1938 by Kurt Deckert. However, the genus is currently considered a synonym of Phrynobatrachus.[5][6]

Description

Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus has tympanum that is indistinct. Dorsal skin is warty and has two X-shaped ridges in the scapular region.[7]

Ecology

There are no observations of this species after its discovery, and its ecology is essentially unknown.[1]

References
  1. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2014). "Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T58136A3066189. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T58136A3066189.en.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus (Ahl, 1925)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  3. Frétey, T. (2008). "Provenance de trois espèces de Phrynobatrachus d'Afrique centrale décrites par Ahl en 1925 (Anura, Ranidae)". Alytes (in French). 25 (1/2): 83–85. ProQuest 1318922366.
  4. "Phrynobatrachus pygmaeus (Ahl, 1925)". African Amphibians. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  5. Frétey, T. (2007). "Revue des genres africains Arthroleptis Smith, 1849 et Phrynobatrachus Gunther, 1862 (Amphibia, Anura)". Alytes (in French). 25 (3/4): 99–172. ProQuest 1318921769.
  6. Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Phrynobatrachus Günther, 1862". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  7. Plath, Mirco; Herrmann, Hans-Werner & Böhme, Wolfgang (2006). "New frog species of the genus Phrynobatrachus (Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) from Mt. Nlonako, Cameroon". Journal of Herpetology. 40 (4): 486–495. doi:10.1670/0022-1511(2006)40[486:nfsotg]2.0.co;2. JSTOR 4498531.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.