Leptopelis viridis (Günther, 1869)

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

Hylambates viridis Günther, 1869 "1868", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868: 487. Holotype: BMNH, by original designation; BMNH 1947.2.10.23 by museum records. Type locality: Not stated; given as "W. Africa" by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 134.

Hylambates hyloides Boulenger, 1906 "1905", Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, Ser. 3, 2: 167. Syntypes: "Numerous specimens" in MSNG and BMNH, the BMNH specimens being 1906.3.30.151–155 (reregistered as 1947.2.20.12–16) according to museum records; MSNG 29944A designated lectotype by Capocaccia, 1957, Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, Ser. 3, 69: 218. Type locality: "Bolama, Portuguese Guinea [= Guinea-Bissau]". Synonymy by Parker, 1936, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 19: 97, and Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 432. A. Schiøtz In Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 230, noted that the types of Leptopelis hyloides were of the biological species Leptopelis viridis, but the species that is commonly associated with the name Leptopelis hyloides was another, now named Leptopelis spiritusnoctis.

Leptopelis nanus Ahl, 1924, Arch. Naturgesch., Abt. A,, 90: 252. Holotype: ZMB unnumbered according to the original publication; now ZMB 26990 (M.-O. Rödel, personal commun.). Type locality: "Mangu [now Sansanne-Mango], Togo". Synonymy by Parker, 1936, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 19: 97; Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 432. (Formerly placed in the synonymy of Leptopelus bocagii by Loveridge, 1929, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 151: 121.)

Leptopelis togoensis Ahl, 1929, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1929: 191. Syntypes: ZMB (2 specimens) unnumbered according to the original publication; these now possibly lost (M.-O. Rödel, personal commun.). Type locality: "Bumpana (Panpamba), Togo". Subsequently Ahl, 1931, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17: 113, stated the type locality to only be "Togo". Synonymy by Parker, 1936, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 19: 97; Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 432.

Leptopelis liberiensis Ahl, 1929, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1929: 196. Syntypes: ZMB (2 specimens) unnumbered according to the original publication, these now possibly lost (M.-O. Rödel, personal commun.). Type locality: "Liberia". Synonymy by Loveridge, 1941, Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus., 91: 128.

Leptopelis hyloides — Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 215.

Leptopelis viridis — Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 212; Parker, 1936, Zool. Meded., Leiden, 19: 95.

Leptopelis nanus — Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 216.

Leptopelis (Taphriomantis) viridis — Laurent, 1941, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 35: 102.

Common Names

Rusty Forest Treefrog (Leptopelis viridis: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 69).

Savannah Tree Frog (Leptopelis viridis: Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 14).

Gbanga Forest Treefrog (Leptopelis hyloides [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 69).

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

Distribution

Savanna of West Africa from Senegal and southern Niger to northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo and Uganda, likely into Chad, Mali, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and southern Sudan. See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda

Likely/Controversially Present: Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, South Sudan, Sudan

Comment

Literature of this species is confusing because the type of Leptopelis hyloides is conspecific with Leptopelis viridis, although often applied to a forest species distinct from Leptopelis viridis. So, nomenclaturally, Leptopelis hyloides became a junior synonym of Leptopelis viridis, while the living populations previously identifed as Leptopelis hyloides were given a new name—Leptopelis spiritusnoctis. All older records of Leptopelis hyloides (other than the type) now refer to Leptopelis spiritusnoctis. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 121–122, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 300–301, provided a brief account and map. Auliya, Wagner, and Böhme, 2012, Bonn Zool. Bull., 61: 255–281, reported the species from the Bijagos Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau. 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. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 126–127, provided a map and brief account for Angola, suggesting its presence there. Rödel and Glos, 2019, Zoosyst. Evol., 95: 20, reported this species from 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. Ayoro, Segniagbeto, Hema, Penner, Oueda, Dubois, Rödel, Kabré, and Ohler, 2020, Zoosystema, 42: 547–582, discussed records, identification, and habitat in Burkina Faso. 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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