Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
Single word	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Hyperolius platyceps (Boulenger, 1900)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Hyperoliinae > Genus: Hyperolius > Species: Hyperolius platyceps

Rappia platyceps Boulenger, 1900, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1900: 444. Syntype(s): BMNH (2 specimens), by original designation, the being BMNH 1947.2.9.57–58 (1900.2.17.89–90) according to museum records. Type locality: "Benito River", elsewhere in the original publication suggested to be "Benito River, north of the Gaboon River between 20 and 30 miles inland from the coast, Gaboon", Equatorial Guinea.

Rappia platyceps var. angolensis Ferreira, 1906, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, Ser. 2, 7: 161. Syntypes: MUP, by original indication. One extant syntype, MUP 017303 (from Quilombo), the other (from N'Golla Bumba) apparently lost, according to Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 22. Type locality: "N'Golla Bumba e Quilombo", Angola. Junior subjective homonym of Hyperolius marmoratus var. angolensis Steindachner, 1867. Synonymy by Frétey, Dewynter, and Blanc, 2011, Clé de détermination, Amph. Afri. Centr. Angola: xxx, and Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 23.

Rappia pleurotaenia Boulenger, 1906, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, 17: 322. Types: BMNH 1947.2.9.47 (formerly 1899.6.26.28) and 1947.2.9.48 (1906.5.28.126) according to museum records. Type locality: "Zima", South Cameroon, and "Rio Benito", Equatorial Guinea. Placement as subspecies of Hyperolius platyceps by Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 403. Formerly regarded (Laurent, 1943, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 4: 71) as a synonym of Hyperolius purpurescens.

Rappia bivittata Ferreira, 1906, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, Ser. 2, 7: 161. Syntypes: MUP, according to Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 210; MUP 017302 designated lectotype by Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 20. Type localities: "Rio Luinha, Quilombo, N'golla Bumba", Angola. Lectotype from Rio Luinha (Cuanza Norte Prov.) 09° 16′ S 14° 32′ E, 50 m elevation according to Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 20.

Rappia fasciata Ferreira, 1906, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, Ser. 2, 7: 164. Holotype: MUP, according to R. Laurent in Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 210; MUP 017294 according to Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 20. Type locality: "Quilombo", Angola. Considered a likely synonym of Hyperolius platyceps by Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 210); this formalized by Frétey, Dewynter, and Blanc, 2011, Clé de détermination, Amph. Afri. Centr. Angola: XXX, and discussed by Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 20.

Hyperolius pleurotaenius — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 251, 328. Secondary homonym of Hyperolius bivittatus Peters, 1854. Considered a likely synonym of Hyperolius platyceps by Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 210; this formalized by Frétey, Dewynter, and Blanc, 2011, Clé de détermination, Amph. Afri. Centr. Angola: XXX, and discussed by Ceríaco, Blackburn, Marques, and Calado, 2014, Alytes, 31: 19–20.

Hyperolius platyceps — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 251, 328.

Hyperolius ferreirai Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 324. Replacement name for Rappia bivittatus Ferreira, 1906.

Hyperolius fasciatus — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 252, 325; Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 372.

Hyperolius angolanus Ahl, 1931, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17: 22. Replacement name for Rappia platyceps var. angolensis Ferreira, 1906, according to Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 207.

Megalixalus platyceps — Loveridge, 1938, Proc. New England Zool. Club, 17: 66; Mertens, 1938, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 442: 25.

Hyperolius platyceps platyceps — Laurent, 1943, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 4: 94.

Hyperolius platyceps lomamiensis Laurent, 1943, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 4: 94. Holotype: MRAC 12387, by original designation. Type locality: "Kisamba (Terr. de Kamina, Haut-Lomami)", Dem. Rep. Congo.

Hyperolius platyceps lombaris Laurent, 1951, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 82: 29. Holotype: MNHNP 1908.46, by original designation. Type locality: "Bitye, Ja river, Cameroun".

Hyperolius platyceps olbrechtsi Laurent, 1952, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 46: 275. Holotype: MRAC unnumbered, according to the original publication. Type locality: "Nyunzu, alt. 700 m., Terr. d'Albertsville, Tanganyika [Tanzania]".

Hyperolius platyceps angolanus — Laurent, 1954, Publ. Cult. Companhia Diamantes Angola, 23: 77.

Hyperolius platyceps pleurotaenia — Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 403.

English Names

Benito River Reed Frog (Hyperolius platyceps: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 67).

Angola Reed Frog (Hyperolius angolanus [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 66).

Rio Luinha Reed Frog (Hyperolius ferreirai [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 67).

Flat-headed Reed Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 188).

Distribution

Southern Cameroon to throughn Rep. Congo to southwestern Central African Republic, western Dem. Rep. Congo, northern Angola; reported from northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon

Comment

Revised by Amiet, 1979 "1978", Ann. Fac. Sci. Cameroun, 25: 224–254, who discussed relationships. Gabon record by Lötters, Gossmann, Obame, and Böhme, 2001, Herpetofauna, Weinstadt, 23: 31. Frétey and Blanc, 2002 "2001", Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 126: 383, reported this species from Gabon. Schiøtz, 2006, Alytes, 24: 54–57, provided discussion of geographic variation and other taxonomic difficulties. The sister taxon of a group composed of Hyperolius chelaensis and Hyperolius cinereus, according to Conradie, Branch, Measey, and Tolley, 2012, Zootaxa, 3269: 1–17. Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 145–146, provided a brief account and map. See account for Cameroon by Amiet, 2012, Rainettes Cameroun: 254–261. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 109–110, provided a map for Angola and a brief account. Dewynter, Frétey, Jongsma, Bamba-Kaya, and Pauwels, 2018, Cah. Fondation Biotope, 18: 29, provided a brief account and photographs from the Monts Birougou area of Gabon. Dewynter and Frétey, 2019, Cah. Fondation Biotope, 27: 28, summarized the literature for Gabon and provided photographs (p. 58). Mali, Banda, Chifundera, Badjedjea, Sebe, Lokasola, Ewango, Tungaluna, and Akaibe, 2019, Am. J. Zool., 2: 38–43, reported the species from the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo, but this should be confirmed given that it is otherwise well out of the known range. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 188–189, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. See brief account, range map, and photographs for Equatorial Guinea in Sánchez-Vialas, Calvo-Revuelta, Castroviejo-Fisher, and De la Riva, 2020, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 66: 137–230, although they noted no specimens have been collected in this country since 1900. Badjedjea, Masudi, Akaibe, and Gvoždík, 2022, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 16 (1: e301): 54–56, commented on a population of Hyperolius cf. platyceps from the Kokolopori Bonobo Nature Reserve, Tshuapa Province, Dem. Rep. Congo and on the taxonomic questions that these specimens raise.

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