Sclerophrys pantherina (Smith, 1828)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Sclerophrys > Species: Sclerophrys pantherina

Bufo pantherinus Smith, 1828, S. Afr. Comm. Advert., 3: 2. Types: not designated. BMNH 1936.12.3.25 designated neotype by Poynton and Lambiris, 1998, Afr. J. Herpetol., 47: 7. Type locality: Found in moist situations in various parts of Africa . . . . Vicinity of Cape Town [Western Cape Province, South Africa]. Restricted to "vicinity of Cape Town", Western Cape Province, South Africa, by neotype designation.

Bufo cruciger Schmidt, 1846, Abh. Geb. Naturwiss. Hamburg, 1: 169. Holotype: ZMH, lost, according to Hallermann, 1998, Mitt. Hamburg. Zool. Mus. Inst., 95: 211. Type locality: "Cap der guten Hoffnung" (= Cape of Good Hope), Western Cape Province, Rep. South Africa. Synonymy by Poynton and Lambiris, 1998, Afr. J. Herpetol., 47: 3-12. Primary homonym of Bufo variabilis var. crucigera Eichwald, 1831 (= Bufo viridis).

Amietophrynus pantherinusFrost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 363.

Sclerophrys pantherina — Ohler and Dubois, 2016, PeerJ, 4(e1553): 9.

English Names

Panther Toad (Bufo pantherinus: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 43).

Cape Toad (Bufo cruciger [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41).

Southern Panther Toad (Bufo pantherinus: Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 89).

Western Leopard Toad (Bufo pantherinus: De Villiers, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 71; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 148).

August Frog (Bufo pantherinus: De Villiers, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 71 [secondary name]).

Leopard Toad (Bufo pantherinus: De Villiers, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 71 [secondary name]).

Distribution

Southwestern Cape region from the Cape Peninsula to Gansbaai, Western Cape Province, Rep. South Africa.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: South Africa

Endemic: South Africa

Comment

See Poynton and Lambiris, 1998, Afr. J. Herpetol., 47: 3-12, for a discussion of characteristics (Bufo pardalis group = Bufo pantherinus group) and nomenclature as well as the literature problems surrounding the use of this name. Eick, Harley, and Cherry, 2001, J. Herpetol., 35: 113-114, provided molecular evidence for the distinctiveness of Bufo pantherinus and Bufo pardalis. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 89, De Villiers, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 71-74, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 148-149, provided accounts. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Bufo pantherinus) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 189. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 133–134, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 66–67, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Stephens, Tolley, and da Silva, 2022, Conserv. Genetics, 23: 903–918, reported on inbreeding depression due to extreme habitat loss. 

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