Latonia nigriventer (Mendelssohn and Steinitz, 1943)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Alytidae > Genus: Latonia > Species: Latonia nigriventer

Discoglossus nigriventer Mendelssohn and Steinitz, 1943, Copeia, 1943: 231. Holotype: HUJ ("Amphib. Discogl., No. 1, Collection of the Dept. of Zool., Hebrew University, Jerusalem"). Type locality: "East shore of Lake Huleh (Northern District, Safed Subdistrict)", Israel.

Latonia nigriventer — Biton, Geffen, Vences, Cohen, Bailon, Rabinovich, Malka, Oron, Boistel, Brumfeld, and Gafny, 2013, Nature Commun., 2959(4: 1959): 3. 

Common Names

Israel Painted Frog (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 51; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 51, USFWS).

Hula Painted Frog (Global Amphibian Assessment, 2006).

Distribution

Lake Huleh region, Israel and Palestine; likely formerly in adjacent Lebanon.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Israel

Likely/Controversially Present: Lebanon, Palestine, State of

Endemic: Israel

Comment

 Khalaf-Sakerfalke von Jaffa, 2008, Gazelle, 84: 1–18, discussed range and conservation status in Palestine. Biton, Geffen, Vences, Cohen, Bailon, Rabinovich, Malka, Oron, Boistel, Brumfeld, and Gafny, 2013, Nature Commun., 2959(4: 1959): 1-6, placed the species in the fossil genus Latonia and noted that it is the living sister taxon of Discoglossus. Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 137, provided a map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Discoglossus nigriventer). Albaba, 2016, J. Entomol. Zool. Stud., 4: 123–128, did not include this species as occurring in Palestine. Perl, Gafny, Malka, Oliveira, Woodhams, Rollins-Smith, Pask, Bletz, Geffen, and Vences, 2017, Contrib. Zool., Amsterdam, 86: 11–37, discussed natural history and conservation. Perl, Gafny, Malka, Renan, and Vences, 2018, Herpetol. Notes, 11: 475–480, reported on post-metamorphic color pattern changes. See Dufresnes, 2019, Amph. Eur., N. Afr., & Middle East: 41, for brief summary of identifying morphology and biology as well as a range map and photograph. Gafny and Roll, 2025, In Heatwole, Das, and King (eds.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 11, Part 8 (Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Eastern Hemisphere): 57–94, reported on conservation status in Israel with photographs and dot maps.  

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