Ptychadena anchietae (Bocage, 1868)
Rana anchietae Bocage, 1868 "1867", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867: 843. Syntypes: MBL T. 9-134 (3 specimens), according to Perret, 1976, Arq. Mus. Bocage, Ser. 2, 6: 19; destroyed in 1978 fire. Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 127 reported that one of the syntypes was referrable to Ptychadena oxyrhynchus. Type locality: "Benguella", Angola.
Rana abyssinica Peters, 1881, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1881: 163. Syntypes: ZMB 7030 (5 specimens), 3299 (5 specimens), ZMUC 072438-41, according to Bauer, Günther, and Klipfel, 1995, in Bauer et al. (eds.), Herpetol. Contr. W.C.H. Peters: 50, who noted that the specimens could not be located in 1994. Type locality: "Ailet (bei Massaua) . . . und . . . Keren (Bogos)", Eritrea. Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 126; Perret, 1976, Arq. Mus. Bocage, Ser. 2, 6: 20, and Perret, 1979, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 102: 18.
Rana gondokorensis Werner, 1908 "1907", Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Phys. Math. Naturwiss. Kl., 116: 1891. Holotype: NHMW 16236, according to Häupl, Tiedemann, and Grillitsch, 1994, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 9: 31. Type locality: "Tümpel, eine Gehstunde östlich von Gondokoro", Sudan. Synonymy by Guibé and Lamotte, 1961 "1960", Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 32: 380-391
Rana aberae Ahl, 1925 "1923", Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1923: 97. Holotype: ZMB unnumbered in the original publication. Type locality: "Jandjan (Abessynien)", Ethiopia. Synonymy by Guibé and Lamotte, 1961 "1960", Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 32: 380-391.
Rana oxyrhynchus migiurtina Scortecci, 1933, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 72: 12. Syntypes: MSNM 638-640, but possibly now lost, according to Conci, 1967, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 106: 94. Type localities: "Uadi Badulle ed Uadi Arro, distanti unba settantian di chilometri da El Donfar, posti fra I monti dell'Ahl Mascat e queli dell'Ahl Medoh, dove l'acqua è perenne e dove, almeno in vicinanza delle rive", Somalia; "El Donfar un villaggio della Somalia del Nord distante oltre 800 chilometri dall'Uebi". Synonymy by Lanza, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 165.
Ptychadena abyssinica — Guibé and Lamotte, 1961 "1960", Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 32: 384.
Rana (Ptychadena) abyssinica — Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 79.
Ptychadena anchietae — Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 126. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 56; by implication.
Ptychadena (Ptychadena) anchietae — Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 316.
English Names
Plain Grass Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 154; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 108; Minter and Passmore, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 286; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 306).
Northern Rana (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 154).
Savanna Ridged Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 154).
Benguella Grassland Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 105).
Anchieta's Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15).
Anchieta's Ridged Frog (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 319; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 300; Lötters, Wagner, Bwong, Schick, Malonza, Muchai, Wasonga, and Veith, 2007, Fieldguide Amph. Rept. Kakamega Forest: 20).
Long-legged Grass Frog (Rana abyssinica [no longer recognized]: Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 79).
Distribution
Savannas of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and southern Rep. Congo to Shaba (Dem. Rep. Congo), through East and central Africa to northern and eastern Botswana, Mozambique, northeastern Northwestern Province and northern KwaZulu-Natal Province (Rep. South Africa), Swaziland, and Angola; possibly into the Caprivi region of Namibia.
Comment
Discussed by Guibé and Lamotte, 1961 "1960", Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 32: 380-391. Tentatively regarded as a synonym of Ptychadena superciliaris by Poynton, 1970, Ann. Natal Mus., 20: 365-375, but this was disputed by Perret, 1976, Arq. Mus. Bocage, Ser. 2, 6: 20, and Perret, 1979, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 102: 18. See Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 145-147, Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 83, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 319-321, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 306-307, for accounts for southern Africa. See comment under Ptychadena superciliaris. Largen, 2001, Tropical Zool., 14: 335-336, commented on distribution. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 300-302, provided an account for East Africa. Minter and Passmore, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 286-287, provided an account for South Africa. Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 139-143, provided an account and noted substantial geographic variation. Lötters, Wagner, Bwong, Schick, Malonza, Muchai, Wasonga, and Veith, 2007, Fieldguide Amph. Rept. Kakamega Forest: 20-22, provided an account. Bwong, Chira, Schick, Veith, and Lötters, 2009, Salamandra, 45: 129-146, discussed the assignment of a population in western Kenya to this taxon. Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 169. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 249-252, provided an account for Malawi. Measey, Malonza, and Muchai, 2009, Amph. Taita Hills: 42-45, provided a brief account and photo for the Taita Hills, Kenya. Ng'endo, Kairu, Osiemo, and Ogol, 2011, Acta Herpetol., Firenze, 6: 275-288, compared morphological and molecular differences between this species and an unnamed member of the Ptychadena mascareniensis complex in the Taita Hills of Kenya.
External Links
Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.
- For additional sources of information from other sites search Google
- For images search Arkive, CalPhoto Images and Google Images
- To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
- For information aggregation from other sites and some original accounts see AmphibiaWeb report
- For further information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
- For related information on conservation and images as well as observation see iNaturalist;
- for a quick link to their maps see iNaturalist KML
