Kassina Girard, 1853

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Genus: Kassina

Eremiophilus Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 32. Type species: Cystignathus senegalensis Duméril and Bibron, 1841, by original designation. Suppressed by Opinion 1364, Anonymous, 1985, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 42: 355-356, for the purpose of conserving the name Kassina.

Kassina Girard, 1853, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 6: 421. Type species: Cystignathus senegalensis Duméril and Bibron, 1841, by monotypy. To have priority over Hylambates Duméril, 1853, when considered synonyms according to Opinion 849, Anonymous, 1968, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 25: 20-21.

Hylambates Duméril, 1853, Ann. Sci. Nat., Paris, Ser. 3, 19: 162. Type species: Hylambates maculatus Duméril, 1853, by monotypy. Synonymy by Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 271. Recognized as distinct by Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 274.

Cassina — Cope, 1864, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 16: 182. Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 131. Incorrect subsequent spelling of Kassina Girard, 1853.

Cassiniopsis Monard, 1937 "1936", Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 62: 41. Type species: Cassiniopsis kuvangensis Monard, 1937, by original designation. Synonymy by Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 273.

English Names

Kassinas (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 224; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 186; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 272).

Kassin's Frogs (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Pan Frogs (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 151).

Running Frogs (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 151; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 68).

Distribution

Subsaharan Africa.

Comment

Although Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 269-276, were the first to note the close relationship between Hylambates and Kassina, Laurent, 1976, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 213: 18-21, had reservations about the appropriateness of the synonymy by Van Dijk, 1966, Ann. Natal Mus., 18: 265, and Schiøtz, 1975, Treefrogs E. Afr.: 60. See also Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 225-284. Drewes, 1984, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 139: 1-70, found "Hylambates maculata" to be a member of the genus Kassina. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 37-38, considered Semnodactylus Hoffman, 1939, and Kassinula Laurent, 1940, to be junior synonyms of Kassina, and Paracassina Peracca, 1907, and Phlyctimantis Laurent and Combaz, 1950, to be subgenera of Kassina. Species of southern Africa discussed by Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 178-184. Kassinula was transferred to Hyperoliinae by Channing, 1989, S. Afr. J. Zool., 24: 116. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 187, provided a key to the species of southern Africa. Laurent, 1976, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 213: 33-67, discussed the species of Congo. Rödel, Grafe, Rudolf, and Ernst, 2002, Copeia, 2002: 800-814, discussed the species of West Africa and provided a key. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 188-192, provided a key and accounts for the species of East Africa. Msuya, Howell, and Channing, 2007 "2006", Afr. J. Herpetol., 55: 113-122, provided an estimate of phylogeny of species in the genus. Pauwels and Rödel, 2007, Herpetozoa, 19: 135-148, noted "Kassina sp." (which they regarded as unnamed) from Gabon. Amiet, 2007, Rev. Suisse Zool., 114: 87-126, reviewed the species of Cameroon. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 272-280, provided a key and accounts for the species of southern Africa. Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543-583, in their study of Genbank sequences, suggested this taxon to be non-monophyletic, with Kassina senegalensis closely related to Semnodactylus wealii and Kassina maculata close to Phlyctimantis verrucosus, among their exemplars. See accounta for Cameroon by Amiet, 2012, Rainettes Cameroun: 372-412.

Contained taxa

Kassina arboricola Perret, 1985
Kassina cassinoides (Boulenger, 1903)
Kassina cochranae (Loveridge, 1941)
Kassina decorata (Angel, 1940)
Kassina fusca Schiøtz, 1967
Kassina jozani Msuya, Howell, and Channing, 2007
Kassina kuvangensis (Monard, 1937)
Kassina lamottei Schiøtz, 1967
Kassina maculata (Duméril, 1853)
Kassina maculifer (Ahl, 1924)
Kassina maculosa (Sternfeld, 1917)
Kassina mertensi Laurent, 1952
Kassina schioetzi Rödel, Grafe, Rudolf, and Ernst, 2002
Kassina senegalensis (Duméril and Bibron, 1841)
Kassina somalica Scortecci, 1932
Kassina wazae Amiet, 2007

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