Hyperolius thomensis Barboza du Bocage, 1886

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Hyperoliinae > Genus: Hyperolius > Species: Hyperolius thomensis

Hyperolius thomensis Barboza du Bocage, 1886, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, 11 (42): 74. Syntypes: MBL T.26-216 (2 specimens) and 26-219; destroyed by 1978 fire. CAS 251637 designate neotype by  Bell, 2016, Herpetologica, 72: 349. Type locality: "St. Thomé"; corrected to "Roça Saudade e littoral", São Thomé Island by Barboza du Bocage, 1897, J. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat., Lisboa, Ser. 2, 6: 203. Neotype from "São Tomé and Príncipe, São Tomé, trail from Bom Sucesso  Radio Tower, 0.275688 N, 6.604128 E, 1326 m elevation". 

Rappia thomensisBoulenger, 1887, Zool. Rec., 23: 21, by implication.

Nesionixalus thomensisPerret, 1976, Arq. Mus. Bocage, Ser. 2, 6: 29.

Hyperolius (Nesionixalus) thomensisFrost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 366.

English Names

São Tomé Reed Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 192).

Distribution

São Tomé Island in primary forest, 300 to 1300 m elevation, São Tomé I., Gulf of Guinea.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: São Tomé and Principe

Endemic: São Tomé and Principe

Comment

See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 288. Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 311, provided a brief account and map as Nesionixalus thomensis. Biogeography and diversification reported on by Bell, Drewes, Channing, Gvoždík, Kielgast, Lötters, Stuart, and Zamudio, 2015, J. Biogeograph., 42: 65–75, and Bell, Drewes, and Zamudio, 2015, Evolution, 69: 904–915, suggesting that Hyperolius molleri (now partitioned into Hyperolius molleri and Hyperolius drewesi) is the sister taxon of this species, and together the sister taxon of Hyperolius cinnamomeoventris. Drewes and Stoelting, 2004, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 55: 574–575, provided life history observations and discussed problems with published collection locations. Gilbert and Bell, 2017 "2018", Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 123: 1–11, compared call structure of the Hyperolius thomenssi/Hyperolius moleri/Hyperolius drewesi/Hyperolius olivaceus group in São Tome and Principe and Central Africa. Dehling and Sinsch, 2019, Zool. Anz., 280: 65–77, included this species in their Hyperolius cinnamomeoventris group. Bell and Irian, 2019, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 128: 672–680, reported on a hybrid zone with Hyperolius molleri. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 192–193, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Bell, Ceríaco, Scheinberg, and Drewes, 2022, in Ceríaco et al. (eds.), Biodiversity Gulf Guinea Islands: 491–494, summarized the literature and systematics of the species. Ceríaco, Marques, Sousa, Veríssimo, Beja, and Ferreira, 2023, ZooKeys, 1168: 41–75, included this species in a report, key, and DNA barcode reference library for the amphibians of São Tomé and Príncipe. 

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