Semnodactylus Hoffman, 1939

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

Semnodactylus Hoffman, 1939, Soöl. Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 1: 90. Type species: Semnodactylus thabanchuensis Hoffman, 1939 (= Cassina wealii Boulenger, 1882), by monotypy.

Notokassina Drewes, 1985, S. Afr. J. Sci., 81: 190. Type species: Cassina wealii Boulenger, 1882, by original designation. Synonymy with Kassina by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 35. Synonymy with Semnodactylus by Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 184.

English Names

Weal's Frogs (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 70).

Running Frogs (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 192).

Distribution

As for the single species: southern and southeastern Rep. South Africa.

Comment

Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 35 (following Hoffman, 1942, Soöl. Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 1: 161), considered Semnodactylus a synonym of Kassina Girard, 1853, and noted that it had priority over Notokassina. Drewes, 1984, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 139: 1-70, believed this species to be more closely related to Kassinula and Paracassina (as Tornierella) than to Kassina. Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 184, retained Notokassina. Synonymy with Kassina by Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 273. Channing, 1989, S. Afr. J. Zool., 24: 116-131, on the basis of a parsimony analysis considered Semnodactylus to be the sister-taxon of Paracassina. Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543-583, in their study of Genbank sequences, suggested that among their exemplar species Semnodactylus is the sister of Kassina senegalensis, rendering Kassina non-monophyletic.

Contained taxa

Semnodactylus wealii (Boulenger, 1882)

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