Strongylopus grayii (Smith, 1849)
Rana grayii Smith, 1849, Illust. Zool. S. Afr., 3 (Part 28): pl. 78, fig. 2. Holotype: possibly in BMNH although not mentioned specifically by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 54. Type locality: "western districts of the Cape Colony, and even close to Cape Town", Rep. South Africa. Placed on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology by Opinion 713, Anonymous, 1964, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 21: 352.
Strongylopus grayi — Steindachner, 1867, Reise Österreichischen Fregatte Novara, Zool., Amph.: 21. Van Dijk, 1966, Ann. Natal Mus., 18: 259.
Rana grayi var. dorsalis Werner, 1910, Denkschr. Med. Naturwiss. Ges. Jena, 16: 297. Syntypes: Collection not noted. Type locality: "Tafelberg bei Kapstadt" and "Tafelbai" [Cape Town area, Rep. South Africa]. Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 113.
Rana grayi grayi — Hewitt, 1933, Occas. Pap. Natl. Mus. S. Rhodesia, 6: 12.
Dicroglossus grayi — Deckert, 1938, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1938: 138.
Strongylopus grayii grayii — Van Dijk, 1966, Ann. Natal Mus., 18: 259. by implication; Channing, 1979, Ann. Natal Mus., 23: 797-831; Channing, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 334; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 346.
Rana grayii grayii — Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 138.
Rana (Stronglylopus) grayii — Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233. by implication; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 50; Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 334.
English Names
Gray's Grass Frog (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 96; Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 138;).
Spotted Rana (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 1428; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 138).
Clicking Stream Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 138; Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 311-312; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 424).
Gray's Frog (Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 36; Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 162; Rose, 1962, Rep. Amph. S. Afr., Ed. 2: 40; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 138).
Gray's Spotted Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 107).
Gray's Stream Frog (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 356).
Distribution
South of the Limpopo River in the south, southwest, and east of Rep. South Africa; Lesotho; records on the Namibia and Botswana borders of South Africa; introduced on St. Helena I.
Comment
See accounts by Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 98-100, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 353, Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 311-312, Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 90-91, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 424-425. See Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 136-137, who suggested that the features of Rana grayii rhodesiana (now Strongylopus rhodesianus) were due either to introgression with Rana fasciata, or a close relationship to it. See account by . Bauer and Branch, 2001, Herpetol. Nat. Hist., 8: 125, commented on the range in western South Africa. Barbour, 1934, Copeia, 1934: 183, noted the St. Helena population. Lever, 2003, Naturalized Rept. Amph. World: 225-226, commented on the St. Helena population as well. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 135-137, discussed the species in Lesotho. Tolley, Braae, and Cunningham, 2010, Afr. J. Herpetol., 59: 17-32, reported on molecular phylogeography and the likelihood that this nominal taxon is composed of at least two species. Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543-583, in their study of Genbank sequences, but excluding RAG-2, found Strongylopus grayii to be imbedded within Amietia, while Van der Meijden, Crottini, Tarrant, Turner, and Vences, 2011, Afr. J. Herpetol., 60: 1-12, employing somewhat more sequence (RAG-2), found Strongylopus grayii to be well within Strongylopus. Additional verification, both of identifications associated with DNA and with the addition of more evidence, is warranted.
External Links
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- 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;
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