Xenopus petersii Barboza du Bocage, 1895

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pipidae > Subfamily: Dactylethrinae > Genus: Xenopus > Species: Xenopus petersii

Xenopus petersii Barboza du Bocage, 1895, Herpetol. Angola Congo: 187. Syntypes: MBL 3.473 (Quindumbo), 3.474-477 (Caconda), 3.476 (S. Salvador do Congo), 3.478 (Dombe), 3.479 (Quimbula), 3.481-483 (Huila), 3.485 (Cassange), 3.486-488 (Dondo) according to Perret, 1976, Arq. Mus. Bocage, Ser. 2, 6: 16; all thought to have been destroyed by fire in 1978; however Bauer, Günther, and Robeck, 1996, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 72: 271, reported ZMB 5831 as a surviving syntype exchanged from the MBL, although this status disputed by Frétey, Dubois, and Ohler, 2014, Alytes, 30: 44. MNHNP 0.1465 designated lectotype by Frétey, Dubois, and Ohler, 2014, Alytes, 30: 44. Type localities: "St. Salvador", "Benguella", "Catumbella", Quibula", "Quindumbo", "Caconda", "Huila", "Ambaca", "Dombe", "Cassange", and “Chimboto ou Gimboto", all in Angola. Lectotype from Benguela, Benguela Province, Angola. 

Xenopus laevis petersiParker, 1936, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 10, 18: 597. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Xenopus (Xenopus) petersiiKobel, Barandun, and Thiebaud, 1998, Herpetol. J., 8: 13.

Xenopus petersiiChanning, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 248.

English Names

Peters' Clawed Frog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 46; Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 48).

Peters' Platanna (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 248; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 336).

Distribution

Northern Namibia, throughout Angola (except for the southeast) to western Dem. Rep. Congo, and western Rep. Congo, and to southern Gabon; expected in Zambia.  

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Gabon, Namibia

Likely/Controversially Present: Zambia

Comment

Removed from the synonymy of Xenopus laevis by Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 248, where it had been placed by Parker, 1936, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 10, 18: 597 (although considered to be distinctive at the subspecies level by Mertens, 1971, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 529: 7). See comment under Xenopus laevis. Measey and Channing, 2003, Amphibia-Reptilia, 24: 321-330, provided molecular evidence for the distinctiveness of Xenopus petersii from Xenopus laevis. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 336-337, provided an account. Furman, Bewick, Harrison, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Chifundera, and Evans, 2015, Mol. Ecol., 24: 909–925, transferred the populations in Botswana/Zambia and Cameroon/Nigeria to Xenopus poweri.  In the Xenopus laevis group of Evans, Carter, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Kelley, McLaughlin, Pauwels, Portik, Stanley, Tinsley, Tobias, and Blackburn, 2015, PLoS One, 10(12): e0142823: 29. Ceríaco, Marques, and Bandeira, 2016, Anf. Rept. Parque Nac. Cangandala: 43, provided a brief account for Malanje Province, Angola. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 62–64, provided a map for Angola and discussed the literature. Dewynter and Frétey, 2019, Cah. Fondation Biotope, 27: 36, summarized the literature for Gabon. Butler, Ceríaco, Marques, Bandeira, Júlio, Heinicke, and Bauer, 2019, Herpetol. Rev., 50: 225–240, reported on a collection from Huila Province, southwestern Angola. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 48–49, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Baptista, António, and Branch, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (e203): 96–130, reported on specimens from Bicuar National Park, southwestern Angola. Conradie, Keates, Verburgt, Baptista, and Harvey, 2023, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 17: 41–42, provided an account and dot map of the species in Angola.   

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