Breviceps mossambicus
| Breviceps mossambicus | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Breviceps mossambicus | ||||||||||||
| Peters , 1854 |
Breviceps mossambicus is a species of amphibian from the genus Breviceps .
description
The head-trunk length is up to 48 millimeters. The top of the body is dirty russet. On the sides the color changes into a yellow-brown. There are scattered dark spots on the front back and sides of the trunk. In the middle of the back there is often a more or less distinct light longitudinal line. A broad, brown or black band runs obliquely back and down from the eye. The underside is dirty white, there is only a large brown or black spot below the head. The front head protrudes more than in Breviceps gibbosus , but is still shorter than the diameter of the eye. The head-torso length is eight to ten times the diameter of the eye. The interorbital space is slightly wider than an upper eyelid . The limbs are very short. The first finger is significantly shorter than the second. The second finger is considerably longer than the fourth finger. The fifth toe is much shorter than the large, scoop-shaped metatarsal hump . The subarticular bumps on the fingers and toes are well developed. The skin is provided with countless fine glandular pores or covered with flat warts.
In the field the species forms hybrids with the very similar and closely related Breviceps adspersus ; these can be distinguished by the dorsal pattern; in particular, B. mossambicus has no row of bright spots on either side of the middle of the back and the flanks.
Occurrence
The species occurs in southeastern Africa from eastern Tanzania to the south via Mozambique to South Africa , Swaziland and Zimbabwe , in the northwest it reaches the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In South Africa it is considered safe and quite common. The International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) also classifies them as safe ("least concern").
Way of life
Breviceps mossambicus is a type of open habitat. It is often found under piles of rotting vegetation near settlements. The development is terrestrial, as an exception among the amphibians, but widespread within the relatives. The female lays small clutches of up to twenty eggs in self-dug, round burrows in the ground away from any body of water, often they lie under stones or fallen dead tree trunks. The eggs reach 6 millimeters in diameter and are enclosed in an equally thick yolk capsule which, among other things, serves as protection against dehydration. Development takes six to eight weeks. The tadpoles do not consume any food during development and are therefore dependent on the yolk supplies supplied by the egg. The female leaves the earth chamber after laying eggs and closes it, but remains close to it.
The mating season is mostly in spring or early summer after heavy rainfall, but can be extended over the whole year. Males call out from the ground, sometimes from the entrance to earthworks. The call is described as a series of short chirps with about two tones per second. During the amplexus during mating, the male secretes a sticky substance from glands that temporarily cement the mating partners together.
Systematics
The species Breviceps mossambicus was first described by Wilhelm Peters in 1854 . A synonym is Breviceps mitchelli Hoffman, 1944.
Individual evidence
- ^ Fritz Nieden: Anura II . In: FE Schulze, W. Kükenthal, K. Heider (Ed.): Das Tierreich . Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin and Leipzig 1926, pp. 5-6.
- ↑ a b c J. C. Poynton & DG Broadley (1985): Amphibia Zambesiaca 1. Scolecomorphidae, Pipidae, Microhylidae, Hemisidae, Arthroleptidae. Annals of the Natal Museum Vol. 26 (2): 503-553.
- ↑ a b Darrel R. Frost: Breviceps mossambicus Peters, 1854 . In: Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference . Version 6.0 (accessed March 28, 2014). ( online ).
- ↑ a b Breviceps mossambicus Peters, 1854. African Amphibians Lifedesk ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group 2013. Breviceps mossambicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2 , accessed August 7, 2014.
- ↑ Hendrik Müller, Simon P. Loader, Wilirk Ngalason, Kim M. Howell, David J. Gowe (2007): Reproduction in Brevicipitid Frogs (Amphibia: Anura: Brevicipitidae) - Evidence from Probreviceps m. macrodactylus. Copeia, 2007 (3): 726-733.
- ^ Elisabeth Harper & James A. Vonesh: Field Guide to the Amphibians of the East Usambara Mountains. Preliminary draft. PDF download at Tropicos.org ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Breviceps mossambicus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2014.