Pyxicephalus edulis Peters, 1854
Pyxicephalus edulis Peters, 1854, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1854: 626. Syntypes: ZMB 3349 (2 specimens; Moçambique), 3350 (2 specimens; Moçambique), 10056 (2 specimens; Tette) and 10057 (2 specimens; Sena), according to Channing, Du Preez, and Passmore, 1994, J. Zool., London, 234: 144. Bauer, Günther, and Klipfel, 1995, in Bauer et al. (eds.), Herpetol. Contr. W.C.H. Peters: 49, also mentioned ZMB 10058 (not located), 50260, 50290, and 50301-02, presumably formerly duplicates of the earlier numbers. One of these may be the BMNH specimen from "Mossambique" mentioned by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2:34, as "typical of Pyxicephalus edulis" and received from W. Peters. Gassó Miracle, van den Hoek Ostende, and Arntzen, 2007, Zootaxa, 1482: 54, also considered RMNH 2274 as a syntype. Scott, Visser, Yetman, and Oliver, 2013, Zootaxa, 3599: 201-228, designated ZMB50301 (formerly 10056) as lectotype and discussed the provenance of specimens previously considered to be part of the syntypic series.
Maltzania bufonia Boettger, 1881, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 12: 417. Holotype: NHMW 18162, according to Häupl and Tiedemann, 1978, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 2: 24, and Häupl, Tiedemann, and Grillitsch, 1994, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 9: 28. Type locality: "Uferloch an einer Pfütze bei Rufisque", Senegal. Synonymy (with Pyxicephalus adspersus sensu lato) by Barbour and Loveridge, 1928, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 50: 200. Assignment to this restricted synonymy is provisional.
Rana maltzanii Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 34. Substitute name for Maltzania bufonia Boettger, 1881.
Phrynopsis boulengerii Pfeffer, 1893, Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst., 10: 101. Syntypes: ZMH 750-754, 905, destroyed according t o XXX. Type locality: "Quilimane" (= Quelimane), Mozambique. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 372.
Pyxicephalus flavigula Calabresi, 1916, Monit. Zool. Ital., 27: 34. Holotype: MZUF. Type locality: "Oroflillo", Somalia. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 372; Loveridge, 1957, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 117: 344.
Rana bufonia — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 341.
Phrynopsis usambarae Ahl, 1924, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 11: 271. Holotype: ZMB, not numbered in the original publication. Type locality: "Usambara", Tanzania. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 372.
Rana flavicula — Scortecci, 1932, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 71: 60. Misspelling.
Rana (Pyxicephalus) flavigula — Scortecci, 1933, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 72: 19.
Rana adspersa edulis — Loveridge, 1950, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc., 19: 255. Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 375.
Rana adspersa maltzanii — Loveridge, 1950, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc., 19: 255.
Rana (Pyxicephalus) reiensis Monard, 1951, Mem. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, 1: 181. Syntypes: LCFM (7 specimens), by original designation. Type locality: "Rei Bouba", Cameroon. Synonymy by Perret and Mertens, 1957, Rev. Suisse Zool., 64: 77.
Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersa reiensis — Perret and Mertens, 1957, Rev. Suisse Zool., 64: 77.
Pyxicephalus adspersus edulis —Laurent In Gans, Laurent, and Pandit, 1965, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 134: 18. Parry, 1982, Ann. Natal Mus., 25: 285.
Pyxicephalus adspersus edulis —Laurent In Gans, Laurent, and Pandit, 1965, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 134: 18. Parry, 1982, Ann. Natal Mus., 25: 285.
Pyxicephalus edulis — Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 329.
Pyxicephalus edulis — Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 329. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 349.
Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersa edulis — Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233. by implication.
English Names
Lesser Bull-frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15).
Peter's Bullfrog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 81).
Edible Bullfrog (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 349; Cook and Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 303-305).
Edible Frog (Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 11).
African Bullfrog (Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 416).
Distribution
Floded grasslands from Senegal, Mauritania, and Nigeria to Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Angola, eastern half of Botswana, northern Zambia, and northeastern Rep. South Africa; Swaziland.
Comment
Elevated from subspecies status under Pyxicephalus adspersus by Channing, Du Preez, and Passmore, 1994, J. Zool., London, 234: 141-148, where it had been placed by Peters, 1882, Naturwiss. Reise Mossambique, Zool. 3: 152, Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 33; and Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 375. Most of the literature of "Pyxicephalus adspersus" applies to this species. See Channing, Du Preez, and Passmore, 1994, J. Zool., London, 234: 141-148, for a discussion of the biology and summary of previous literature confusion. Rödel, 2000, Herpetofauna W. Afr., 1: 72-75, provided an account and noted that Pyxicephalus edulis may be composite. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 416-417, provided an account for southern Africa. The status of the northern populations, tentatively assigned to Pyxicephalus edulis, is questionable (DRF). See comment by Lanza, 1990, Biogeographia, 14: 410-411, regarding the status of populatins in Somalia. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 322-323, provided an account and noted confusion with Pyxicephalus adspersus in Kenya and Tanzania. Padial and De la Riva, 2004, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 18: 94-95, provided records from Mauritania. Nago, Grell, Sinsin, and Rödel, 2006, Salamandra, 42: 93-108, provided a record for Benin, discussed the range, and noted that the taxonomic status of West African populations is unclear. Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 6-16, provided a record for Gambia. Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 106-109, provided an account. Blackburn, 2008, Herpetol. Rev., 39: 364, reported Pyxicephalus sp. from Niger and briefly discussed the taxonomic difficulty of assigning names to West African populations.
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
