Leptopelis spiritusnoctis Rödel, 2007

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Arthroleptidae > Subfamily: Leptopelinae > Genus: Leptopelis > Species: Leptopelis spiritusnoctis

Leptopelis spiritusnoctis Rödel, 2007, Mitt. Mus. Naturkd. Berlin, Zool., 83 (Supplement): 91. Holotype: ZMB 69951, by original designation. Type locality: "south-eastern Guinea, Déré Forest Reserve, 07° 36´ 13.2N, 08° 12´ 42.3W, 444 m above sea level, secondary forest".

English Names

Ghostly Tree Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 212).

Distribution

Tropical forest from the Niger delta in Nigeria west to Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo

Comment

Referred to mistakenly in much literature as Leptopelis hyloides; see comment under Leptopelis viridis. Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 253–255, discussed this as an unnamed, widespread species under the name Leptopelis "hyloides", found in the forests of Guinea-Bissau to Cross River in Nigeria, which was frequently confused with Leptopelis aubryi. Rödel and Branch, 2002, Salamandra, 38: 258, reported this species (as Leptopelis "hyloides") in Ivory Coast. Rödel, Brede, Schiefenhövel, Penner, Sinsin, and Nago, 2007, Salamandra, 43: 231–238, reported this species from the Lokoli Forest of southern Benin. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 119, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Amiet, 2012, Rainettes Cameroun: 455, regarded this taxon as a geographic variant of Leptopelis aubryi. This was discussed and rejected by Rödel, Emmrich, Penner, Schmitz, and Barej, 2014, Zoosyst. Evol., 90: 21–31, who provied acoustic and molecular evidence. Barej, Pfalzgraff, Hirschfeld, Liedtke, Penner, Gonwouo, Dahmen, Grözinger, Schmitz, and Rödel, 2015, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 9(2, Spec. Section): 56–84, reported on larval morphology. Rödel and Glos, 2019, Zoosyst. Evol., 95: 20, reported this species from the Krahn-Basa Proposed Protected Area in southeastern Liberia and the Foya Proposed Protected Area in western Liberia. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 212–213, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Kanga, Kouamé, Zogbass, Gongomin, Agoh, Kouamé, Konan, Adepo-Gourène, Gourène, and Rödel, 2021, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 15: 71–107, commented on conservation status, identification, range, and habitat on the Ivory Coast side of Mont Nimba. Gansa, Agadjihouèdé, and Hounkanrin, 2023, Afr. Zool., 58: 39–56, reported the species from the lower Ouémé Valley, southern Benin and briefly descried habitat preference. 

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