Mertensophryne lughensis (Loveridge, 1932)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Mertensophryne > Species: Mertensophryne lughensis

Bufo lughensis Loveridge, 1932, Occas. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 8: 49. Holotype: BMNH 1947.2.21.9 (formerly 1895.9.24.38), according to Grandison, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 52. Type locality: "from between Matagoi and Lugh, Italian Somaliland", Somalia.

Bufo gardoensis Scortecci, 1932, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 71: 267. Types: MSNM 666 (6 specimens) regarded types by Conci, 1967, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 106: 94. These are now MSNM Am 343–349, of which 347 was considered most likely to by the holotype on the basis of the SVL by Blackburn and Scali, 2014, Herpetol. Monogr., 28: 26. Type locality: "Gardo Migiurtinia", Somalia. Synonymy by Tandy and Keith, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 159, and Balletto, Cherchi, and Lanza, 1978, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 11: 223.

Bufo chappuisi Roux, 1936 "1935", Mem. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, N.S., 4: 182. Holotype: NHMB 4824, according to 40. Type locality: "Delta de l'Omo, st. 27, 570 m.", W. Suk, Turkana, Ethiopia. Synonymy by Largen, 2001, Tropical Zool., 14: 320.

Poyntonophrynus lughensis — 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: 365.

Mertensophryne lughensis — Spawls, Mazuch, and Mohammad, 2023, Handb. Amph. Rept. NE Afr.: 46. 

Common Names

Lugh Pygmy Toad (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 80). 

Lugh Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 42; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 84).

Turkana Toad (Bufo chappuisi [no longer recognzied]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41).

Distribution

Arid lowlands from Somalia through eastern and southern Ethiopia to South Sudan and much of Kenya; possibly into extreme northern Uganda.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan

Likely/Controversially Present: Uganda

Comment

Lanza, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 158, noted that this species had been confused in some literature with Bufo taitanus. See account by Scortecci, 1933, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano, 72: 38 (as Bufo gardoensis). See Largen, 2001, Tropical Zool., 14: 320-321, for comments on systematics, habitat, and distribution. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 84-85, provided an account. See account (as Bufo lughensis), photograph, and map for Ethiopia and Eritrea by Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 96. Liedtke, Müller, Hafner, Penner, Gower, Mazuch, Rödel, and Loader, 2017, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B, Biol. Sci., 284 (20162598): 6,  found this species (via a Bayesian analysis in BEAST) to be the sister taxon of Mertensophryne, rendering Poyntonophryne (the next taxon out) nonmonophyletic, although they did not make the remedial taxonomic change. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 14, provided a range map for Kenya, photograph, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 80–81, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Spawls, Mazuch, and Mohammad, 2023, Handb. Amph. Rept. NE Afr.: 46–47, made the generic change and provided an account addressing identification, natural history, conservation status, and range in northeastern Africa, including a polygon map.   

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