Phrynobatrachus cryptotis Schmidt and Inger, 1959

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Phrynobatrachidae > Genus: Phrynobatrachus > Species: Phrynobatrachus cryptotis

Phrynobatrachus cryptotis Schmidt and Inger, 1959, Explor. Parc Natl. Upemba, Miss. G.F. de Witte, 56: 143. Holotype: IRSNB 1.493 (formerly Institut des Parcs Nationaux du Congo Belge 1926) according to Lang, 1990, Doc. Trav., Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg., 59: 11. Type locality: "upper Bwalo River (an affluent from the left of the Muye, which is an affluent from the right of the Lufira), 1750 m, Parc National de l'Upemba, Upper Katanga, Belgian Congo [=Dem. Rep. Congo]".

English Names

Cryptic River Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 103).

Cryptic Ear Puddle Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 302).

Distribution

Upemba National Park, Katanga Province, Dem. Rep. Congo; possibly Angola. See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Endemic: Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Comment

Zimbabwean and Zambian material previously allocated to this species is referable to Phrynobatrachus mababiensis as is most of the type material of Phrynobatrachus cryptotis according to Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 167. Extremely similar to Phrynobatrachus parvulus, according to Drewes and Vindum, 1994, J. Afr. Zool., 108: 63. Frétey, 2008, Alytes, 25: 99-172, summarized the literature. Not addressed by Zimkus, Rödel, and Hillers, 2010, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 55: 883-900, so not assigned to species group. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 138–139, provided a map for Angola and brief discussion of the literature, doubting the identification and suggesting that Angolan records are actually Phrynobatrachus mababiensis and Phrynobatrachus parvulus. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 302–303, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. 

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