Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" Pickersgill, 2007

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Hyperoliinae > Genus: Afrixalus > Species: Afrixalus "quadrivittatus"

Hyperolius leptosomus Peters, 1877, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1877: 619. Holotype: ZMB 9175 according to Bauer, Günther, and Klipfel, 1995, in Bauer et al. (eds.), Herpetol. Contr. W.C.H. Peters: 44. Type locality: "Chinchoxo (Westafrika)" [= Cabinda, Angola]. Synonymy with Afrixalus fulvovittatus by Schiøtz, 1975, Treefrogs E. Afr.: 78; Lötters, Gossmann, Obame, and Böhme, 2001, Herpetofauna, Weinstadt, 23: 28. Assigned by implication to Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" by Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37.

Megalixalus leptosomusBoulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 129. Chabanaud, 1921, Bull. Com. Études Hist. Scient. Afr. Occid. Franç., 1921: 459 (based in part on Afrixalus fulvovittatus and Afrixalus vittiger according to Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37).

Megalixalus leptosomus leptosomusWerner, 1908 "1907", Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Phys. Math. Naturwiss. Kl., 116: 1900.

Hyperolius brevipalmatus Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 279. Holotype: ZMB 24499 according to Perret, 1962, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 65: 246. Type locality: "Sangmelina Süd Kamerun". The description in Ahl, 1931, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17: 25, appeared a few weeks later according to unpublished notes by A. Loveridge (fide R. Laurent). Synonymy with Afrixalus fulvovittatus by Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 371; Perret, 1962, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 65: 246. Assigned by implication to Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" by Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37.

Megalixalus (Afrixalus) leptosomusLaurent, 1944, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 38: 113-114.

Afrixalus leptosomus — Guibé, 1948, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 20: 500, by implication.

Afrixalus fulvovittatus leptosomusLaurent, 1950, Explor. Parc Natl. Albert, Miss. G.F. de Witte (1933–1935), 64: 18; Laurent, 1951, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 82: 28; Inger, 1968, Explor. Parc Natl. Garamba, Miss. H. de Saeger, 52: 131.

Afrixalus fulvovittatus leptosomusLaurent, 1951, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 82: 28.

Hyperolius fulvovittatus leptosomaPerret, 1960, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 61: 371-372; Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 441.

Afrixalus dorsalis leptosomusPerret, 1976, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 99: 19-28. See comment. 

Afrixalus fulvovittatus brevipalmatusPerret, 1976, Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 99: 19-28. See comment. 

Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37. See comment. Working name for a complex of populations not otherwise sorted.

English Names

None noted.

Distribution

Savanna-forest ecotone regions of tropical West Africa from Senegal, Gambia, and Mali to Dem. Rep. Congo; central Rep. Congo, western and southeastern Dem. Rep. Congo, and western Nigeria, southern and western Dem. Rep. Congo. It is presumed to occur in the Cabinda Enclave of Angola, and probably also in northern Angola, Zambia and Malawi (see comment).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda

Comment

See comment under Afrixalus quadrivittatus and Pickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37. Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 111, implied that the controversy may have to do with confusion with the very similar Afrixalus fulvovittatus and Afrixalus vittigerPickersgill, 2007, Afr. J. Herpetol., 56: 23-37, regarded Afrixalus "quadrivittatus" as a conglomeration of species not otherwise assignable to either Afrixalus fulvovittatus or Afrixalus vittiger. His treatment; by implication, of treating Hyperolius leptosomus Peters, 1877, and Hyperolius brevipalmatus Ahl, 1931, as not formally-recognized species, but as unapplied names, leaves the state of Afrixalus taxonomy in West Africa unsettled, a reflection on the real state of understanding of this difficult taxon. For this reason this record will sort in geographic searches to West Africa. This is not to imply that Afrixalus quadrivittatus (sensu stricto) occurs there, but that the savanna-forest ecotone regions of West Africa are inhabited by frogs currently associated with delimited species that Pickersgill (2007) regarded collectively as Afrixalus "quadrivittatus"Jackson and Blackburn, 2007, Salamandra, 43: 149-164, provided a record for Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Rep. Congo.Jongsma, Tobi, Dixon-MacCallum, Bamba-Kaya, Yoga, Mbega, Mve Beh, Emrich, and Blackburn, 2017, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 11 (1: e144): 10–12, provided records for southeastern Gabon and briefly discussed habitat and range. 

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