Afrixalus stuhlmanni (Pfeffer, 1893)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Hyperoliinae > Genus: Afrixalus > Species: Afrixalus stuhlmanni

Megalixalus stuhlmanni Pfeffer, 1893, Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst., 10: 99. Syntypes: ZMH (destroyed during World War II). Ahl, 1930, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1930: 96, noted a ZMB specimen as a type; ZMB 10986 and ZMB 11015 were recorded as surviving syntypes by Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 439. Type locality: "Sansibar Insel" (= Zanzibar Island), Tanzania; rendered as "Mozambique (Quellimane) bis Tanga, Sansibar" by Ahl, 1930, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1930: 96. The unresolved confusion surrounding the type locality discussed by Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 439. 

Hyperolius unicolor Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 406. Holotype: ZMB 86013 according to Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 437. Type locality: "Ipiana", = Ipyana (Ipanya) on Kiwira River, at the northwestern tip of Lake Malawi, Kyela District, South Mbeya Region, Tanzania, according to Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 437. Synonymy with Afrixalus brachycnemis by Loveridge, 1933, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 74: 346. Potential secondary homonym of Megalixalus fornasinii unicolor Boettger. The description in Ahl, 1931, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17: 122, appeared a few weeks later according to unpublished notes of A. Loveridge (fide R. Laurent). Considered a synonym of Megalixalus brachycnemis by Loveridge, 1933, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 74: 356. Tentatively placed in this synonymy on the basis that Afrixalus brachycnemis sensu Loveridge, 1933 = Afrixalus stuhlmanni of Pickersgill, 2005, Steenstrupia, 29: 13, 19, although this name was not noted by Pickersgill in any of his synonymies.

Hyperolius pygmaeus Ahl, 1931, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17: 22. Holotype: ZMB unnumbered according to the original publication; ZMB 36102, according to Laurent, 1961, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 64: 66. Type locality: "Tanga", Tanga Region, Tanzania. : 433, suggested on the basis of the collector's correspondence that the type locality is actually “Magrotto”, a plantation in southern part of Mlinga Mountains, East Usambara, Tanga Region, Tanzania. Junior homonym of Hyperolius pygmaeus Meyer, 1874 (= Litoria pygmaea).The description in Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 273, appeared subsequently according to Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 407–450. Synonymy by Pickersgill, 2005, Steenstrupia, 29: 13. The cryptic note by Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 439, of "(part: H. pygmaeus Ahl, type)" in the synonymy of Afrixalus septentrionalis morerei Dubois, 1985, is worrisome inasmuch as in the same publication Pickersgill places Hyperolius pygmaeus into the synonymy of Afrixalus stuhlmanni. 

Afrixalus pygmaeus — Laurent, 1961, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 64: 66.

Afrixalus stuhlmanni — Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 223; Pickersgill, 1996, Herptile, 21: 50; Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 161–229. 

Afrixalus stuhlmanni stuhlmanniPickersgill, 2005, Steenstrupia, 29: 17.

English Names

Lesser Banana Frog (Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 113).

Stuhlmann's Banana Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 66).

Stuhlmann's Spiny Reed Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 142).

Distribution

Low to medium altitudes east of the Eastern Arc Mountains in northern and central Tanzania; Island of Zanzibar.  

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Tanzania

Endemic: Tanzania

Comment

Pickersgill, 2005, Steenstrupia, 29: 13-22, provided an account and summarized the extensive taxonomic confusion surrounding this species. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 141-143, 142-143, provided an account. See account by Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 439-443 (as Afrixalus stuhlmanni stuhlmanni). Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 192, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Harper, Measey, Patrick, Menegon, and Vonesh, 2010, Field Guide Amph. E. Arc Mts. Tanzania and Kenya: 170–171, provided a brief account and photograph. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 162–163, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 439, discussed the syntypes of Megalixalus stuhlmanni and the confusion surrounding their collection and provenance.  

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