Afrixalus Laurent, 1944
Afrixalus Laurent, 1944, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 38: 111. Type species: Euchnemis fornasinii Bianconi, 1849 "1848", by original designation. Coined as a subgenus of Megalixalus.
Afrixalus — Guibé, 1948, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 20: 500. Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 277. Elevation to generic status.
Laurentixalus Amiet, 2012, Rainettes Cameroun: 111. Type genus: Afrixalus laevis (Ahl, 1930) [= Megalixalus laevis Ahl], by original designation. Coined as a subgenus.
Incertae Sedis
Hyperolius leptosomus Peters, 1877, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1877: 619. Holotype: ZMB 9175 according to Bauer, Günther, and Klipfel, 1995, in Bauer et al. (eds.), Herpetol. Contr. W.C.H. Peters: 44. Type locality: "Chinchoxo (Westafrika)" [= Cabinda, Angola]. Synonymy with Afrixalus fulvovittatus by Schiøtz, 1975, Treefrogs E. Afr.: 78; Lötters, Gossmann, Obame, and Böhme, 2001, Herpetofauna, Weinstadt, 23: 28. Assigned by implication to Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" by Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37. See comment under Afrixalus quadrivittatus.
Megalixalus leptosomus Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 129. Chabanaud, 1921, Bull. Com. Études Hist. Scient. Afr. Occid. Franç., 1921: 459 (based in part on Afrixalus fulvovittatus and Afrixalus vittiger according to Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37).
Megalixalus leptosomus leptosomus Werner, 1908 "1907", Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Phys. Math. Naturwiss. Kl., 116: 1900.
Megalixalus (Afrixalus) leptosomus Laurent, 1944, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 38: 113-114.
Afrixalus fulvovittatus leptosomus Laurent, 1950, Explor. Parc Natl. Albert, Miss. G.F. de Witte (1933-1935), 64: 18. Laurent, 1951, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 82: 28; Inger, 1968, Explor. Parc Natl. Garamba, Miss. H. de Saeger, 52: 131.
Afrixalus fulvovittatus leptosomus Laurent, 1951, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 82: 28.
Hyperolius fulvovittatus leptosoma Perret, 1960, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 61: 371-372. Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 441.
Afrixalus dorsalis leptosomus Perret, 1976, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 99: 19-28. * Afrixalus fulvovittatus brevipalmatus— Perret, 1976, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 99: 19-28.
English Names
Spiny Reed Frogs (Broadley, 1971, Puku, 6: 120; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 70; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 157; Pickersgill, 2005, Steenstrupia, 29: 3; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 130).
Cat's-eye Reed Frogs (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).
Leaf-folding Frogs (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 232; Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 70; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 222).
Banana Frogs (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 65).
Cat's Eye Reed Frogs (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7).
Distribution
Subsaharan Africa in forest, brushland, and savanna.
Comment
See Schiøtz, 1974, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 137: 9-18, for a revision and review of the East African forms, and Laurent, 1982, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 235: 1-58, for a revision of the Central African forms. Schiøtz, 1974, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 137: 9-18, showed two species (or species groups), termed Afrixalus pygmaeus and Afrixalus brachycnemis. Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 187, and Pickersgill, 1992, Steenstrupia, 18: 145-148, accepted this division, but termed Schiøtz's Afrixalus pygmaeus as Afrixalus brachycnemis and Schiøtz's Afrixalus brachycnemis as Afrixalus sp. Pickersgill, 1996, Durban Mus. Novit., 21: 49-59, diagnosed four complexes of so-called eastern dwarf Afrixalus: (1) Afrixalus brachycnemis complex (Afrixalus brachycnemis, Afrixalus delicatus); (2) Afrixalus sylvaticus complex (Afrixalus sylvaticus, Afrixalus aureus, Afrixalus crotalus); (3) Afrixalus spinifrons complex (Afrixalus spinifrons, Afrixalus knysnae); (4) Afrixalus septentrionalis complex (Afrixalus morerei, Afrixalus septentrionalis). Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 46-84, provided accounts for all species. Pickersgill, 2005, Steenstrupia, 29: 1-38, revised the Afrixalus stuhlmanni group and discussed misidentifications and misapprehensions of relationships in previous studies. See Perret, 1976, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 99: 19-28, for revision of some West and Central African forms. Laurent, 1972, Copeia, 1972: 198-201, and Laurent, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 1-6, considered Afrixalus to be related to the kassinoid genera, on the basis of subjective weighting of some characters, contrary to the view of Drewes, 1984, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 139: 1-70, and Liem, 1970, Fieldiana, Zool., 57: 1-145, who considered Afrixalus to be the sister-taxon of Hyperolius. See comment under Hyperoliidae. See Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 185-193, for discussion of species of south-central Africa, and Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 129-134, for species in KwaZulu-Natal. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 222-235, provided a key and accounts for the species of southern Africa. Transferred from the Kassininae by Channing, 1989, S. Afr. J. Zool., 24: 116. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 130-146, provided a key and account for the species of East Africa. Poynton, 2007 "2006", Afr. J. Herpetol., 55: 167-169, discussed the systematics of dwarf spiny reedfrogs (Afrixalus delicatus, Afrixalus stuhlmanni, Afrixalys brachycnemis, and Afrixalus sylvestris) in the eastern lowlands of Tanzania. Amiet, 2009, Rev. Suisse Zool., 116: 53-92, discussed the taxonomic issue of Afrixalus in Cameroon. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 139-152, provided accounts and an identification key for the species of Malawi. See account for Cameroon by Amiet, 2012, Rainettes Cameroun: 65-123, provided accounts for the Cameroonian species.
Contained taxa
- Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" Pickersgill, 2007
- Afrixalus aureus Pickersgill, 1984
- Afrixalus clarkei Largen, 1974
- Afrixalus crotalus Pickersgill, 1984
- Afrixalus delicatus Pickersgill, 1984
- Afrixalus dorsalis (Peters, 1875)
- Afrixalus dorsimaculatus (Ahl, 1930)
- Afrixalus enseticola Largen, 1974
- Afrixalus equatorialis (Laurent, 1941)
- Afrixalus fornasini (Bianconi, 1849)
- Afrixalus fulvovittatus (Cope, 1861)
- Afrixalus knysnae (Loveridge, 1954)
- Afrixalus lacteus Perret, 1976
- Afrixalus laevis (Ahl, 1930)
- Afrixalus leucostictus Laurent, 1950
- Afrixalus lindholmi (Andersson, 1907)
- Afrixalus morerei Dubois, 1986
- Afrixalus nigeriensis Schiøtz, 1963
- Afrixalus orophilus (Laurent, 1947)
- Afrixalus osorioi (Ferreira, 1906)
- Afrixalus paradorsalis Perret, 1960
- Afrixalus quadrivittatus (Werner, 1908)
- Afrixalus schneideri (Boettger, 1889)
- Afrixalus spinifrons (Cope, 1862)
- Afrixalus stuhlmanni (Pfeffer, 1893)
- Afrixalus uluguruensis (Barbour and Loveridge, 1928)
- Afrixalus upembae (Laurent, 1941)
- Afrixalus vibekensis Schiøtz, 1967
- Afrixalus vittiger (Peters, 1876)
- Afrixalus weidholzi (Mertens, 1938)
- Afrixalus wittei (Laurent, 1941)
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