Kassina Girard, 1853

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Kassininae > Genus: Kassina
15 species

Eremiophilus Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 32. Type species: Cystignathus senegalensis Duméril and Bibron, 1841, by original designation. Suppressed by Opinion 1364, Anonymous, 1985, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 42: 355–356, for the purpose of conserving the name Kassina.

Kassina Girard, 1853, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 6: 421. Type species: Cystignathus senegalensis Duméril and Bibron, 1841, by monotypy. To have priority over Hylambates Duméril, 1853, when considered synonyms according to Opinion 849, Anonymous, 1968, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 25: 20–21.

CassinaCope, 1864, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 16: 182. Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 131. Incorrect subsequent spelling of Kassina Girard, 1853.

Cassiniopsis Monard, 1937 "1936", Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 62: 41. Type species: Cassiniopsis kuvangensis Monard, 1937, by original designation. Synonymy by Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 273.

English Names

Kassinas (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 224; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 186; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 272).

Kassin's Frogs (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Pan Frogs (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 151).

Running Frogs (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 151; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 68).

Distribution

Subsaharan Africa.

Comment

Although Laurent and Combaz, 1950, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 43: 269–276, were the first to note the close relationship between Hylambates and Kassina, Laurent, 1976, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 213: 18–21, had reservations about the appropriateness of the synonymy by Van Dijk, 1966, Ann. Natal Mus., 18: 265, and Schiøtz, 1975, Treefrogs E. Afr.: 60. See also Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 225–284. Drewes, 1984, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 139: 1–70, found "Hylambates maculata" to be a member of the genus Kassina. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 37–38, considered Semnodactylus Hoffman, 1939, and Kassinula Laurent, 1940, to be junior synonyms of Kassina, and Paracassina Peracca, 1907, and Phlyctimantis Laurent and Combaz, 1950, to be subgenera of Kassina. Species of southern Africa discussed by Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 178–184. Kassinula was transferred to Hyperoliinae by Channing, 1989, S. Afr. J. Zool., 24: 116. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 187, provided a key to the species of southern Africa. Laurent, 1976, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 213: 33–67, discussed the species of Congo. Rödel, Grafe, Rudolf, and Ernst, 2002, Copeia, 2002: 800–814, discussed the species of West Africa and provided a key. Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 229–247, provided accounts for the species. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 188–192, provided a key and accounts for the species of East Africa. Msuya, Howell, and Channing, 2007 "2006", Afr. J. Herpetol., 55: 113–122, provided an estimate of phylogeny of species in the genus. Pauwels and Rödel, 2007, Herpetozoa, Wien, 19: 135–148, noted "Kassina sp." (which they regarded as unnamed) from Gabon. Amiet, 2007, Rev. Suisse Zool., 114: 87–126, reviewed the species of Cameroon. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 272–280, provided a key and accounts for the species of southern Africa. Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543–583, suggested this taxon to be non-monophyletic, with Kassina senegalensis closely related to Semnodactylus wealii and Kassina maculata close to Phlyctimantis verrucosus, among their exemplars. See accounta for Cameroon by Amiet, 2012, Rainettes Cameroun: 372–412. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 228–239, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 136–145, provided brief accounts, photographs, and range maps for the species. Portik, Streicher, and Wiens, 2023, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 188 (107907): 66, suggested that Kassina is paraphyletic with respect to Semnodactylus but took no taxonomic action. 

Contained taxa (15 sp.):

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