Leptopelis grandiceps
| Leptopelis grandiceps | ||||||||||||
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Leptopelis grandiceps (formerly known as Leptopelis barbouri ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Leptopelis grandiceps | ||||||||||||
| Ahl , 1929 |
Leptopelis grandiceps is an African frog from the forest climber frogs ( Leptopelis ). The species is endemic to the mountain rainforests in eastern and southern Tanzania .
This frog was mistakenly named Leptopelis barbouri in publications between 1975 and 2014 . All studies and observations on Leptopelis barbouri made during this period , e.g. B. the data on the distribution area and the endangerment relate to Leptopelis grandiceps .
description
The species is one of the smaller species of the genus, males have a head-to-trunk length of 34 to 39 mm, females 38 to 43 mm. The webbed toes are not very pronounced. The eardrum is small and barely noticeable; the pupils are vertically slit-shaped. The frogs are almost monochrome, translucent green, occasionally they show small golden spots. The throat and the belly of the males are blue-green, in females whitish to cream-colored. Leptopelis grandiceps is very similar to the closely related species Leptopelis uluguruensis , but differs from it in its calls and in its translucent green color on the back.
Vocalizations
The call of the males is a short hum. The calls show an indistinct frequency maximum at 1500 Hz, which is repeated about 100 times per second ( call from Leptopelis grandiceps ). The males sit on branches of trees at a height of around 2 to 6 meters.
distribution and habitat
The species is endemic to the Usambara Mountains , the Udzungwa Mountains, and Mount Rungwe in eastern and southern Tanzania . Leptopelis grandiceps lives there in tropical mountain rainforests at altitudes between 700 and 2100 meters. The total range of the species is probably less than 20,000 km² and disjoint .
Way of life
Almost nothing is known about the biology of the species. The males call at heights between two and six meters on branches near streams and pools. The spawn is deposited in depressions in the ground; the hatched tadpoles go to the nearby water. A pair in Amplexus was found on a slope in loose soil about 10 m from a small stream. At this point the formation of water holes was not to be expected, so that the tadpoles apparently had to cover a considerable distance over land to reach the water.
Taxonomy
Arne Schiøtz described this frog species again as Leptopelis barbouri in his book The Treefrogs of Eastern Africa in 1975 , after this name, first given by Ernst Ahl in 1929, had long been synonymous with Leptopelis aubryi . For the new description, however, Schiøtz examined a specimen whose characteristics actually coincided with the type of a species with the name Leptopelis grandiceps , also described for the first time by Ernst Ahl in 1929 . Ahl's original type specimens were not accessible to western researchers at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin at the time . Leptopelis grandiceps was meanwhile a synonym of Leptopelis uluguruensis . In his revision, Schiøtz should have used the name Leptopelis grandiceps instead of the name Leptopelis barbouri , which was also given by Ahl in 1929 . That was only corrected in 2014, when the type specimens Ernst Ahls could be examined more closely. Leptopelis barbouri , as it was described by Ahl in 1929, is, according to today's view, a synonym for Leptopelis flavomaculatus .
Existence and endangerment
The species' habitat is increasingly being affected by the expansion of agriculture, clearing and human settlement. In the eastern Usambara Mountains, the habitat is now directly endangered by the activities of illegal gold prospectors. The IUCN therefore classifies the species as "vulnerable" (endangered).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Václav Gvoždík, Frank Tillack, Michele Menegon & Simon P. Loader: The status of Leptopelis barbouri Ahl, 1929 and eleven other nomina of the current tree-frog genus Leptopelis (Arthroleptidae) described from East Africa, with a redescription of Leptopelis grandiceps Ahl, 1929. Zootaxa, 3793, 1, pp. 165-187, April 2014
- ↑ Darrel Frost: Leptopelis grandiceps , Amphibian Species of the World, Version 6.0, American Museum of Natural History, 1998-2014, accessed May 9, 2014
- ↑ a b c Leptopelis barbouri near Amphibiaweb (Engl.)
- ↑ a b Leptopelis barbouri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2013 Posted by: Arne Schiøtz, JR Vonesh, John Poynton, Kim Howell, M. spot & Simon P. Loader, 2012. Accessed on May 9, 2014.
- ^ Arne Schiøtz: The Treefrogs of Eastern Africa . Steenstrupia, Copenhagen 1975, p. 48
literature
- Ernst Ahl : To the knowledge of the African tree frog genus Leptopelis. Meeting reports of the Society of Friends of Natural Sciences in Berlin, pp. 185–222, 1929 (first description)
- Arne Schiøtz: The Treefrogs of Eastern Africa . Steenstrupia, Copenhagen 1975
Web links
- Darrel Frost: Leptopelis grandiceps , Amphibian Species of the World, Version 6.0, American Museum of Natural History, 1998-2014, accessed May 9, 2014
- Leptopelis barbouri near Amphibiaweb (Engl.)
- Leptopelis barbouri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2013 Posted by: Arne Schiøtz, JR Vonesh, Kim Howell, John Poynton M. spot & Simon P. Loader, 2012. Accessed on May 9, 2014.