Vandijkophrynus gariepensis (Smith, 1848)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Vandijkophrynus > Species: Vandijkophrynus gariepensis

Bufo gariepensis Smith, 1848, Illust. Zool. S. Afr., 3 (Part 27): pl. 69, figs. 2 and 2a. Syntypes: BMNH 1858.11.25.157, 1858.11.25.160–163; BMNH "d. Young." designated lectotype by Boulenger, 1881 "1880", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880: 565 (unless this represents a lot designation). Branch and Braack, 1996 "1995", Madoqua, Windhoek, 19: 21, referred to BMNH 1858.11.25.157 as representing the type (presumably Boulenger's 1881 lectotype) and BMNH records now regard this as the "holotype". Type locality: "banks of the Orange (Gariep) river", Rep. South Africa.

Bufo garipiensis — Steindachner, 1867, Reise Österreichischen Fregatte Novara, Zool., Amph.: 41. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Bufo tuberculosus Barboza du Bocage, 1896, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, Ser. 2, 4 (14): 119. Syntypes: MBL (2 specimens) by original indication; on of these, MBL T.6-335 (the other syntype lost), presumed destroyed in 1978 fire, invalidly designated lectotype by implication by being listed as "holotype" by Perret, 1976, Arq. Mus. Bocage, Ser. 2, 6: 18. Type localities: "Linokana (Transvaal)" and "pays des Bechuanas"; restricted to Linokana [=Dinokana], North West Province, Rep. South Africa, by lectotype designation. Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 45. Preoccupied by Bufo tuberculosus Risso, 1826 (= Bufo bufo).

Bufo Granti Boulenger, 1903, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, 12: 215. Syntypes: "numerous specimens"—BMNH  1947.2.22.3–16 (formerly 1903.4.27.72–81), by museum records, and MCZ 2332–24 (on exchange from BMNH according to Barbour and Loveridge, 1929, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 69: 231). Type locality: "Deelfontein a camp in the Richmond district, 32 miles belw De Aar and 25 east of Victoria West .... on the sides at the bottom of a well at Deelfontein [near Richmond, Northern Cape Province, Rep. South Africa] . . . . others were taken on the veldt". Synonymy with Bufo tuberculosus by Nieden, 1914, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1914: 368. Synonymy by Hewitt and Methuen, 1912, Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr., 3: 107–111; Tandy and Keith, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 158.

Vandijkophrynus gariepensis — Frost, 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: 366.

English Names

Gariep Toad (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 88; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 3; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 64; Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 39).

Karroo Toad (Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 102; Rose, 1962, Rep. Amph. S. Afr., Ed. 2: 98; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 112; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 3; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 64; Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 39; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 70; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 178).

Mountain Toad (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 39).

Distribution

Southwestern Namibia east to the Transvaal, KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg and south to the uplands of the Cape Fold Mountains, Rep. South Africa; Lesotho; Eswatini. Below 3400 m elevation. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa

Comment

In the Bufo gariepensis group of Martin, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 62. In the Bufo angusticeps group of Tandy and Keith, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 158. See Poynton and Broadley, 1988, Ann. Natal Mus., 29: 464–465, for discussion of subspecies and taxonomic characters. Branch and Braack, 1996 "1995", Madoqua, Windhoek, 19: 20, suggested that Bufo nubicola might be specifically distinct. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 70, and Bates, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 63–65 (who noted that this name may cover a number of cryptic species), provided accounts. Bauer and Branch, 2001, Herpetol. Nat. Hist., 8: 126, commented on misidentifications and range in western Rep. South Africa. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 178–179, provided a brief account. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 114–120 discussed the species in Lesotho as well as its subspecific variation. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 158–159, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 76–77, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. 

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.