Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Pyxicephalinae > Genus: Pyxicephalus > Species: Pyxicephalus adspersus

Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 46, 84. Syntypes: MNHNP 4525 and 4527 (8 specimens total) (according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 40) and RMNH 2258 (2 specimens), according to Gassó Miracle, van den Hoek Ostende, and Arntzen, 2007, Zootaxa, 1482: 53. Type locality: "Promontorium Bonae Spei" (=Cape of Good Hope, Rep. South Africa).

Bombinator adspersus Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 84. Name proposed as an objective synonym of Pyxicephalus adspersus to reference jar label names of syntypes in the RMNH and MNHNP.

Tomopterna adspersaDuméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 444; Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 7.

Pyxicephalus adspersusDuméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 444; Werner, 1910, Denkschr. Med. Naturwiss. Ges. Jena, 16: 298; FitzSimons, 1930, Ann. Transvaal Mus., 14: 41.

Rana adspersaBoulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 33; Boulenger, 1907, Mem. Proc. Manchester Lit. Philos. Soc., 51: 5.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersusMonard, 1937 "1936", Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 62: 46.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersaGuibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 40; Mertens, 1971, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 529: 7; Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233; by implication.

Rana adspersa adspersaLoveridge, 1950, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc., 19: 253; Mertens, 1955, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 490: 28.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersaMertens, 1971, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 529: 71.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersa adspersaDubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233, by implication.

Pyxicephalus adspersus adspersusParry, 1982, Ann. Natal Mus., 25: 289; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 66; by implication.

English Names

Bullfrog (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 91; Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 46; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 130; Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 4; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 114).

South African Speckled Frog (Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 153).

Giant Pyxie (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 130; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 114).

African Bullfrog (Wood, 1863, Illust. Nat. Hist., 3: 153; Broadley, 1971, Puku, 6: 112; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 4; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 346; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 319).

Giant Pyxie (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 4).

Giant Bullfrog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 78; Du Preez and Cook, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 300; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 414).

Highveld Bullfrog (Du Preez and Cook, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 300 [alternative name]).

Tschudi's African Bullfrog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 106).

Distribution

Dry savannas of southwestern Angola, Namibia, and inland Rep. South Africa from central Eastern Cape Province, through northern KwaZulu-Natal, western Lesotho, and Eswatini north through Botswana, Zimbabwe, and western Mozambique and Malawi to Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya; likely to be found in Katanga, Dem. Rep. Congo and extreme southern Angola. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Comment

Species limits revised by Channing, Du Preez, and Passmore, 1994, J. Zool., London, 234: 141-148, who summarized previous confusions and the poorly understood distribution. See comment under Pyxicephalus edulis. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.; 346-348, Du Preez and Cook, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 300-303, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 319-322, and Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 103-104 (who discussed a possibly cryptic species on page 104-106, provided accounts. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 124, discussed the species in Lesotho. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 288-290, provided an account for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 344, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 153, noted that nominal Pyxicephalus adspersus from Angola are Pyxicephalus edulis. See Bittencourt-Silva, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (2: e181): 12–13, for comment on population likely of this species in western Zambia. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 376–377, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Baptista, António, and Branch, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (e203): 96–130, reported on specimens from Bicuar National Park, southwestern Angola. 

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