Strongylopus grayii (Smith, 1849)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Cacosterninae > Genus: Strongylopus > Species: Strongylopus grayii

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 grayiSteindachner, 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 grayiHewitt, 1933, Occas. Pap. Natl. Mus. S. Rhodesia, 6: 12.

Dicroglossus grayiDeckert, 1938, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1938: 138.

Strongylopus grayii grayiiVan 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 grayiiPassmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 138.

Rana (Stronglylopus) grayiiDubois, 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.

Strongylopus springbokensis Channing, 1986, Ann. Cape Prov. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), 16: 128. Holotype: PEM A963, by original designation. Type locality: "Springbok in Namaqualand", Western Cape Province, Rep. South Africa. Synonymy by Channing, Schmitz, Zancolli, Conradie, and Rödel, 2022, Rev. Suisse Zool., 129: 243.

Rana (Stronglylopus) springbokensis — 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).

Springbok Frog (Stronglyopus sprinbokensis [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 109).

Namaqua Stream Frog (Stronglyopus sprinbokensis [no longer recognized]: Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 360; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 428).

Distribution

South of the Limpopo River in the south, southwest, and east of Rep. South Africa; Lesotho; Naukluft, central Namibia (possibly introduced and possibly now extinct); records on the Botswana borders of South Africa require confirmation; introduced on St. Helena I.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa

Likely/Controversially Present: Botswana

Introduced: Namibia, Saint Helena

Comment

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 Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 98–100, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 353 (as both Stronglyopus grayii and Strongylopus springbokensis), Bauer and Branch, 2001, Herpetol. Nat. Hist., 8: 125, who commented on the range in western South Africa, Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 311–316 (as both Stronglyopus grayii and Strongylopus springbokensis), Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 90–91, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 424–429 (as both Stronglyopus grayii and Strongylopus springbokensis). 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. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Strongylopus springbokensis) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 516. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 352–355, provided information on comparative larval morphology (as Strongylopus grayii and Strongylopus springbokensis). Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 70, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 360–363, provided brief accounts (as Strongylopus sprinkbokensis and Strongylopus grayii), photographs, and range maps. Channing, Schmitz, Zancolli, Conradie, and Rödel, 2022, Rev. Suisse Zool., 129: 243–281, reported on molecular phylogenetics, morphology, distribution, and advertisement call. 

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