Sclerophrys maculata (Hallowell, 1854)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Sclerophrys > Species: Sclerophrys maculata

Bufo cinereus Hallowell, 1845, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 2: 169. Type(s): Not stated but presumably originally in the ANSP; presumably in existence by implication of statement by Perret and Amiet, 1971 "1970", Ann. Fac. Sci. Cameroun, 5: 48, that M. Tandy had discovered that the syntypic series contained more than one species. Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 54, noted that the four specimens in the ANSP (presumably those considered by Tandy) labelled as syntypes were not types. Type locality: not stated, although implied to be from Liberia. Junior homonym of Bufo cinereus Schneider, 1799.

Bufo maculatus Hallowell, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 101. Replacement name for Bufo cinereus Hallowell, 1846. Potentional secondary homonym of Bombinator maculatus Merrem, 1820, Tent. Syst. Amph.: 178. BMNH 1984. 163, designated neotype by Poynton, Loader, Conradie, Rödel, and Liedtke, 2016, Zootaxa, 4098: 83. Neotype from "Monrovia, Liberia". 

Bufo chudeaui Chabanaud, 1919, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, 25: 454. Syntypes: MNHNP 1919.80 (4 specimens), according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 12. Type locality: "Sénégal: mare de Bata (Sahel de Nioro)"; rendered as "Senegal: Bata marsh (Sahel de Nioro)" by Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 310; actually in Mali according to Joger and Lambert, 1996, J. Afr. Zool., 110: 31. Synonymy by Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 397. 

Bufo regularis maculatus — Loveridge, 1936, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser., 22: 81; Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 320.

Bufo maculatus — Laurent, 1972, Explor. Parc Natl. Virunga, Ser. 2, 22: 4.

Amietophrynus maculatus — 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.

Amietophrynus chudeaui — 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.

Sclerophrys chudeaui — Ohler and Dubois, 2016, PeerJ, 4(e1553): 9. 

Sclerophrys maculata — Ohler and Dubois, 2016, PeerJ, 4(e1553): 9.

English Names

Hallowell's Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 42).

Northern Flat-backed Toad (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 60). 

Bata Marsh Toad (Sclerophrys chudeaui [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 41).

Distribution

Generally in humid savanna and forest-edge from southern Guinea and Liberia eastwards to Cameroon, south to Bas-Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo; presumably to be found in intervening Rep. Congo and Cabinda Enclave, Angola; reported from northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo (see comment). 

Comment

In the Bufo maculatus group of Martin, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 61, and Tandy and Keith, 1972, in Blair (ed.), Evol. Genus Bufo: 159. Removed from the synonymy of Bufo regularis by Laurent, 1972, Explor. Parc Natl. Virunga, Ser. 2, 22: 15. See comment under Bufo danielae. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 132–133, reported on comparative tadpole morphology (possibly including the subsequently recognized Sclerophrys pusilla).  Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 6-16, provided records for Gambia.  Nagy, Kusamba, Collet, and Gvoždík, 2013, Herpetol. Notes, 6:  413–419, provided a record from Bas-Congo, southwestern Dem. Rep. Congo. Rödel and Glos, 2019, Zoosyst. Evol., 95: 21, 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.: 60–62, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Poynton, Loader, Conradie, Rödel, and Liedtke, 2016, Zootaxa, 4098: 73–94, distinguished this species from Sclerophrys pusilla on molecular and morphological grounds as well as providing a range map. Masudi, Laudisoit, Yendema, Babangenge, Mukobya, Ewango, Katuala, Akaibe, Bongo, Anio, Ngbolua, and Tungaluna, 2019, Asian J. Res. Zool., 2(4): 1–11, reported specimens so identified from the Lendu Plateau of northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo; this identification requires confirmation.

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