Firouzophrynus dhufarensis (Parker, 1931)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Firouzophrynus > Species: Firouzophrynus dhufarensis

Bufo dhufarensis Parker, 1931, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 10, 8: 518. Holotype: BMNH 1947.2.21.66 (formerly 1931.7.16.1) according to Arnold, 1980, J. Oman Stud., Spec. Rep., 2: 275. Type locality: "Milwah Alaud (220 ft.)", 17° 08′ N, 54° 19′ E, 65 m elevation, Oman.

"Bufo" dhufarensis — Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 363. Excluded from Bufo and unassigned to genus.

Duttaphrynus dhufarensis — Van Bocxlaer, Biju, Loader, and Bossuyt, 2009, BMC Evol. Biol., 9 (e131): 4.

Firouzophrynus dhufarensis — Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 447. 

Common Names

Dhofar Toad (Hamdi and Fathy, 2021, Egypt. Acad. J. Biol. Sci. B. Zool., 13: 26). 

Oman Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41).

Distribution

Western mountains from vicinity of Mecca and into the Ha'il and Riyadh provinces  of north-central to east-central Saudi Arabia south and to southern peripheral Arabia, including Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Masirah I.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Comment

In the Bufo arabicus (formerly Bufo orientalis) group of Tandy and Keith, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 160. In the Bufo stomaticus group of Inger, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 107. Arnold, 1980, J. Oman Stud., Spec. Rep., 2: 273–332, discussed this and other Arabian species, noting that Bufo dhufarensis is very similar to Bufo scorteccii Balletto and Cherchi, 1970. See account by Balletto, Cherchi, and Gasperetti, 1985, Fauna Saudi Arabia, 7: 335–343. Dubois, 1974, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 3, Zool., 213: 345–350, discussed previous confusion of this species with Bufo andersonii and Bufo stomaticus. See accounts by Leviton, Anderson, Adler, and Minton, 1992, Handb. Middle East Amph. Rept.: 142, and Schätti and Desvoignes, 1999, Herpetofauna S. Yemen and Sokotra: 32–33. Al-Shehria and Al-Saleh, 2010, J. King Saud Univ., Sci., 22: 73–76, reported on the karyotype. Cunningham and Wronski, 2010, Afr. Herp News, 52: 20–21, reported the species from the mountains north of Riyadh in the central Najd area and discussed the range. Portik and Papenfuss, 2015, BMC Evol. Biol., 15 (152): 1–19, confirmed the membership of this species in the Duttaphrynus stomaticus group. Alshammari and Ibnrahim, 2018, Adv. Bioresearch, Agra, 9: 165–177, reported on habitat and localities in the Ha'il Region of north-central Saudi Arabia. Al-Qahtani and Al-Johany, 2018, Saudi J. Biol. Sci., 25: 1380–1386, discussed and mapped this species in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Soorae, Els, Gardner, and El Alqamy, 2013, Zool. Middle East, 59: 229–234, reported on distribution and ecology in the United Arab Emirates and northern Oman. Hamdi and Fathy, 2021, Egypt. Acad. J. Biol. Sci. B. Zool., 13: 23–32, discussed presence and abundance in the Jizan region of extreme southwestern Saudi Arabia. Alrefaei, Fahad Albeshr, and Pizzio, 2022, J. King Saud Univ., Sci., 34 (101972): 1–5, reported on 16s mtDNA-confirmed records from Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia. Els, Carranza, and Gardner, 2024, in J. A. Burt (ed.), Nat. Hist. Emirates: 523, commented (as Duttaphrynus dhufarensis) on the range in the United Arab Emirates and its conservation status. Al-Johany, Al-Qahtani, Al-Qarni, and Al-Osaimi, 2025, In Heatwole, Das, and King (eds.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 11, Part 8 (Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Eastern Hemisphere): 235–249, discussed habitat and conservation and provided photographs and polygon range maps for Saudi Arabia. Soorae, Ali, Carranza, and Haris, 2025, In Heatwole, Das, and King (eds.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 11, Part 8 (Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Eastern Hemisphere): 267–278, provided photographs and morphological description as well a discussion of habitat and conservation priorities in the UAE. Böhme and Koppetsch, 2025, In Heatwole, Das, and King (eds.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 11, Part 8 (Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Eastern Hemisphere): 279–294, reported on natural history, systematics, distribution, and conservation in Yemen. Gardner, 2025, In Heatwole, Das, and King (eds.), Amphibian Biology. Volume 11, Part 8 (Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Eastern Hemisphere): 295–301, reported on taxonomic history, distribution, and conservation in Oman.   

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