Acanthixalus sonjae Rödel, Kosuch, Veith, and Ernst, 2003

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Acanthixalinae > Genus: Acanthixalus > Species: Acanthixalus sonjae

Acanthixalus sonjae Rödel, Kosuch, Veith, and Ernst, 2003, J. Herpetol., 37: 44. Holotype: SMNS 09573, by original designation. Type locality: "SRET station, transect X, large water-filled tree stump, secondary forest, . . . , 5° 50′ N, 7° 20′ W, Taï National Park, Ivory Coast".

Common Names

Sonja's Spiny Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 130).

Distribution

Known only from the vicinity of the type locality (Taï National Park, Ivory Coast) as well as southwestern Ghana; may occur in adjacent Liberia although not recorded from there at present.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Ghana, Ivory Coast

Likely/Controversially Present: Liberia

Comment

Rödel, Gil, Agyei, Leaché, Diaz, Fujita, and Ernst, 2005, Salamandra, 41: 107-127, provided the Ghana record. See statement of geographic range, habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 617. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 182–183, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 130–131, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 414, discussed the collection and provenance of the types. 

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