Xenopus vestitus Laurent, 1972

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pipidae > Subfamily: Dactylethrinae > Genus: Xenopus > Species: Xenopus vestitus

Xenopus vestitus Laurent, 1972, Explor. Parc Natl. Virunga, Ser. 2, 22: 9. Type(s): Not stated, but MRAC 118287 recorded as holotype by Lang, 1990, Doc. Trav., Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg., 59: 10. Type locality: "Musugereza, près de Rutshuru, +/- 1.250 m, Kivu, [Dem. Rep.] Congo".

Xenopus kigesiensis Tinsley, 1973, J. Zool., London, 169: 3. Holotype: BMNH 1972.799, by original designation. Type locality: "Lake Mutanda, Uganda". Synonymy by Tinsley, 1975, J. Zool., London, 175: 474.

Xenopus (Xenopus) vestitusKobel, Barandun, and Thiebaud, 1998, Herpetol. J., 8: 13.

English Names

Kivu Clawed Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 97).

Jacketed Clawed Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 244).

Distribution

Highland swamps and lakes bordering the Western Rift in southwestern Uganda, Rwanda, and eastern Dem. Rep. Congo south of Lake Edward, and rivers draining the Virunga volcanoes.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Rwanda, Uganda

Comment

Record suggesting southward extension to "Musosa, Tanganyika District, Zaire [= Dem. Rep. Congo]" (Tinsley, 1975, J. Zool., London, 175: 488) considered doubtful by Tinsley, Kobel, and Fischberg, 1979, J. Zool., London, 188: 89). Chromosome number (2n = 72) tetraploid with respect to Xenopus laevis (see Tymowska, Fischberg, and Tinsley, 1977, Cytogenet. Cell Genet., 19: 346). Interactions with three sympatric Xenopus species include recent invasion of lakes in southwestern Uganda by the related Xenopus vestitus and Xenopus wittei and their replacement of previous Xenopus laevis bunyoniensis populations (Tinsley, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 145). Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 244–245, provided an account. See comment under Xenopus lenduensis. In the Xenopus amieti group of Evans, Carter, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Kelley, McLaughlin, Pauwels, Portik, Stanley, Tinsley, Tobias, and Blackburn, 2015, PLoS One, 10(12): e0142823: 29. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 46–47, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Dehling and Sinsch, 2023, Diversity, 15 (512): 1–81, discussed the range, identification, natural history, advertisement call, and conservation status in Rwanda. Behangana, Byaruhanga, Magala, Katumba, Kagurusi, Dendi, and Luiselli, 2023, Wetlands, 43(88): 1–13, reported on presence in the wetlands of southwestern Uganda.  

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