Anhydrophryne hewitti (FitzSimons, 1947)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Cacosterninae > Genus: Anhydrophryne > Species: Anhydrophryne hewitti

Arthroleptella hewitti FitzSimons, 1947, Ann. Natal Mus., 11: 125. Holotype: TMP 21376, by original designation. Type locality: "Upper Gorge (at 6000 ft.) of the Cave Stream, a tributary of the Benana, which in turn is a tributary of the Umlambonjwa River, Cathedral Peak Area, Drakensberg, Natal", Rep. South Africa.

Arthroleptella hewitti hewittiFitzSimons, 1947, Ann. Natal Mus., 11: 128.

Arthroleptella hewitti minor FitzSimons, 1947, Ann. Natal Mus., 11: 128. Holotype: TMP 21431, by original designation. Type locality: "Bulwer, Natal", Rep. South Africa.

Arthroleptis lawrencei Loveridge, 1954, Ann. Natal Mus., 13: 97. Holotype: NMP 942, by original designation. Type locality: "Town Bush, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, Union of South Africa". Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 153.

Phrynobatrachus lawrenceiLaurent, 1957, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 56: 274.

Arthroleptella lawrenceiLaurent, 1961, Publ. Univ. Elisabethville, 1: 204.

Anhydrophryne hewittiScott, 2005, Cladistics, 21: 532. Dawood and Stam, 2006, S. Afr. J. Sci., 102: 251.

English Names

Natal Chirping Frog (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 171; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 194; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 340).

Natal Moss Frog (Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 211).

Hewitt's Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Yellow Bandit Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 98).

Hewitt's Moss Frog (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 277).

Hewitt's Chirping Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 362).

Distribution

Midlands and lower escarpment slopes of the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, south into the Eastern Cape Province, Rep. South Africa; possibly into adjacent Lesotho.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: South Africa

Likely/Controversially Present: Lesotho

Endemic: South Africa

Comment

See accounts (as Arthroleptella hewitti) provided by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 153-154 (who rejected subspecies), Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 114, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 277-278, Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 211-212, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 340-341. Scott, 2005, Cladistics, 21: 68, anticipated the transfer of this species to Anhydrophryne by suggesting that it was more closely related to Anhydrophryne rattrayi than to Arthroleptella landdrosia. Dawood and Stam, 2006, S. Afr. J. Sci., 102: 249-253, discussed the placement of this species in Anhydrophryne. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 143, suggested the possible presence of this species in Lesotho. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 362–363, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map.

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