Odontobatrachus natator
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Odontobatrachus natator , female |
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| ( Boulenger , 1905) |
Odontobatrachus natator ( Syn .: Petropedetes natator ) is a species of frog from West Africa . It was developed by the herpetologists George Albert Boulenger already in 1905 described . Because of their extraordinary characteristics and based on molecular genetic studies, a monotypical genus Odontobatrachus and a separate family, the Odontobatrachidae, were established for themin 2014. In 2015 it was found that the type species Odontobatrachus natator conceals a species complex, the individual species of which can be distinguished genetically and through morphological combinations of characteristics. In addition to Odontobatrachus natator, four other species have been described.
features
The type specimen that the first person to describe Boulenger had had a head-to-trunk length of 55 millimeters. The skin on the back is densely granulated and provided with ridges or elongated warts. The color is brown on top, mostly covered with dark, black dots and light, olive-green to yellowish bands. The limbs are also banded. The ventral side is light, white to yellowish. The eardrum is inconspicuous, its diameter is only half that of the eye.
There are large webbed feet between the toes and fingers . The fingers are somewhat elongated, flat, with enlarged, heart-shaped adhesive discs. The first finger is shorter than the second. The length of the feet in this species is two fifths of the head-trunk length. The males have paired internal vocal sacs and oval glands on the undersides of the thighs.
The dentition is particularly noticeable: on each of the two lower jaw bones there is a pointed, tusk-like extension. The upper jaw has two rows of pointed, backward curved teeth. Behind the choans are two small groups of palatal teeth that are close together.
Occurrence
The Odontobatrachidae are native to the rainforests of West Africa. It is the first vertebrate family to be endemic to West Africa . Odontobatrachus natator is common in Sierra Leone , northern Liberia and the adjacent areas in southern Guinea . It occurs in hilly terrain and on wooded mountain ranges up to an altitude of 1400 meters.
Way of life
Odontobatrachus natator lives in fast flowing waters and at waterfalls, where the tadpoles also develop. Some living in such waters, very similar-looking frogs were as rapids Frogs (Engl. Torrent frogs ) into its own family Petropedetidae compiled. However, it was later found that their common traits are adaptations to their similar way of life and are not genetically closely related. Within the genus Petropedetes there was also Odontobatrachus natator under the name Petropedetes natator , for which a separate genus was established in 2014 within the new independent family Odontobatrachidae.
Tribal history
For the evolutionary line of Odontobatrachus natator and the other Odontobatrachus species, a separation from the other families was calculated as early as the Cretaceous , i.e. within the Mesozoic era more than 65 million years ago.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael F. Barej, Johannes Penner, Andreas Schmitz, Mark-Oliver Rödel: Multiple genetic lineages challenge the monospecific status of the West African endemic frog-family Odontobatrachidae. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15, p. 67 2015 doi : 10.1186 / s12862-015-0346-9
- ↑ Michael F. Barej, Andreas Schmitz, Johannes Penner, Joseph Doumbia, Laura Sandberger-Loua, Mareike Hirschfeld, Christian Brede, Mike Emmrich, N'Goran Germain Kouamé, Annika Hillers, Nono Legrand Gonwouo, Joachim Nopper, Patrick Joel Adeba, Mohamed Alhassane Bangoura, Ceri Gage, Gail Anderson, Mark-Oliver Rödel: Life in the spray zone - overlooked diversity in West African torrent-frogs (Anura, Odontobatrachidae, Odontobatrachus). Zoosystematics and Evolution 91, 2, pp. 115-149, July 2015 doi : 10.3897 / zse.91.5127
- ^ George Albert Boulenger: Descriptions of new West-African frogs of the genera Petropedetes and Bulua. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 7, 15, pp. 281-283, 1905, pp. 282
- ↑ a b c d Michael F. Barej, Andreas Schmitz, Rainer Günther, Simon P. Loader, Kristin Mahlow & Mark-Oliver Rödel: The first endemic West African vertebrate family - a new anuran family highlighting the uniqueness of the Upper Guinean biodiversity hotspot . Frontiers in Zoology, 11, p. 8, 2014
- ↑ Darrel R. Frost: Odontobatrachidae Amphibian Species of the World, Version 6.0, American Museum of Natural History, 1998-2014
literature
- Michael F. Barej, Andreas Schmitz, Rainer Günther, Simon P. Loader, K. Mahlow & Mark-Oliver Rödel: The first endemic West African vertebrate family - a new anuran family highlighting the uniqueness of the Upper Guinean biodiversity hotspot. Frontiers in Zoology, 11, p. 8, 2014 doi : 10.1186 / 1742-9994-11-8 ( PDF , first description of the family)
- Michael F. Barej, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Simon P. Loader, Michele Menegon, Legrand Nono Gonwouo, Johannes Penner, Václav Gvoždík, Rainer Günther, Rayna C. Bell, Peter Nagel & Andreas Schmitz: Light shines through the spindrift - phylogeny of African torrent frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Petropedetidae) . Mol. Phyl. Evol. 71, pp. 261–273, 2014 (first description of the genre)
- George Albert Boulenger: Descriptions of new West-African frogs of the genera Petropedetes and Bulua. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 7, 15, pp. 281–283, 1905 (first description of the species)
Web links
- Darrel R. Frost: Odontobatrachidae Amphibian Species of the World, Version 6.0, American Museum of Natural History, 1998-2014
- Berlin researchers discover new family of rapids frogs in West Africa Vet-Magazin.com from February 4, 2014, accessed on February 26, 2014 (with photos)
- Odontobatrachus natator in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Posted by: Mark-Oliver Rödel, 2004. Accessed March 26, 2014.