Ptychadena uzungwensis (Loveridge, 1932)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Ptychadenidae > Genus: Ptychadena > Species: Ptychadena uzungwensis

Rana mascareniensis uzungwensis Loveridge, 1932, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72: 384. Holotype: MCZ 16626, by original designation. Type locality: "Dabaga, Uzungwe Mountains, Tanganyika Territory [=Tanzania]".

Ptychadena macrocephala Laurent, 1952, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 46: 22. Holotype: MRAC unnumbered, by original designation. Type locality: "Haute Lubitshako, 1. 900-2. 000 m, Terr. de Fizi, Kivu", Dem. Rep. Congo. Synonymy by Laurent, 1954, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 34: 9.

Ptychadena uzungwensisLaurent, 1954, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 34: 9.

Ptychadena uzungwensisLaurent, 1954, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 34: 9. Guibé and Lamotte, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 942; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 56; by implication.

Rana (Ptychadena) uzungwensisGuibé and Lamotte, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 942, by implication; Schmidt and Inger, 1959, Explor. Parc Natl. Upemba, Miss. G.F. de Witte, 56: 117; Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233; by implication.

Rana (Ptychadena) uzungwensisSchmidt and Inger, 1959, Explor. Parc Natl. Upemba, Miss. G.F. de Witte, 56: 117.

Ptychadena (Ptychadena) uzungwensisDubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 316.

English Names

Uzungwe Ridged Frog (Stewart and Wilson, 1966, Ann. Natal Mus., 18: 301; Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23).

Uzungwe Grass Frog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 116). 

Uzungwe Grassland Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 106).

Udzungwa Ridged Frog (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 129; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 344-345; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 317).

Udzungwa Grass Frog (Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 296; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 326).

Distribution

Medium to high altitude grassland on the East African plateau: Rwanda, Burundi, southern Dem. Rep. Congo, Rwanda, western Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to Mozambique uplands, the eastern half of Angola and south into the Soutpansberg, of Limpopo Province, South Africa; Gabon (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Comment

Account by Schmidt and Inger, 1959, Explor. Parc Natl. Upemba, Miss. G.F. de Witte, 56: 117–123. See also Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 131, Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 151, and accounts by Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 344–345, Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 296, and and Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 317–318. M. Cunningham (personal commun.) suggests on the basis of specimen examination that the two South African specimens are misidentified Ptychadena porosissima. This reidentification is apparently reflected in the account and distribution map in Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 326–327, which shows the southern extent of the range as being in south-central Zimbabwe, well north of South Africa. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 274–275, provided an account for Malawi. Müller and Larson, 2014, J. Herpetol., 48: 284–290, reported on larval morphology from the southern Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. Harper, Measey, Patrick, Menegon, and Vonesh, 2010, Field Guide Amph. E. Arc Mts. Tanzania and Kenya: 272–273, provided a brief account and photograph. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 142–143, provided a map for Angola and brief discussion of the literature. Zimkus and Larson, 2013, Salamandra, 49: 159, provided a record from Batéké Plateau National Park, Gabon. Dewynter and Frétey, 2019, Cah. Fondation Biotope, 27: 38, summarized the literature for Gabon, although these records appear to be far removed from the rest of the records in Africa and require confirmation (DRF). Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 336–337, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Dehling, Mindje, and Sinsch, 2023, Salamandra, 59: 42–50, reported on the range in Rwanda, the morphological diagnosis, and call characteristics. Dehling and Sinsch, 2023, Diversity, 15 (512): 1–81, discussed the range, identification, natural history, advertisement call, and conservation status in Rwanda. Conradie, Keates, Verburgt, Baptista, and Harvey, 2023, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 17: 47–48, provided an account and dot map of the species in Angola. De Lange, Netherlands, and Du Preez, 2023, Afr. J. Herpetol., 72: 33–46, discussed the South African population, its call repertoire, and molecular and morphological identification.  

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