Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
Single word	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Hyperolius argus Peters, 1854

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hyperoliidae > Subfamily: Hyperoliinae > Genus: Hyperolius > Species: Hyperolius argus

Hyperolius argus Peters, 1854, Ber. Bekannt. Verhandl. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1854: 628. Syntypes: ZMB 4807 (2 specimens), lost according to Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 207; one of the two syntypes relocated by Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 418. Type locality: "Boror" [= Companhia do Boror, Zambezia Province, Mozambique].

Hyperolius flavoviridis Peters, 1854, Ber. Bekannt. Verhandl. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1854: 628. Holotype: ZMB 6631, according to Laurent, 1961, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 64: 74 (in error if the following statement is correct). Bauer, Günther, and Klipfel, 1995, in Bauer et al. (eds.), Herpetol. Contr. W.C.H. Peters: 44, reported ZMB 6631–32, and possibly RMNH 1780, as syntypes. Type locality: "Boror", Mozambique. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 372.

Hyperolius tettensis Peters, 1854, Ber. Bekannt. Verhandl. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1854: 628. Holotype: ZMB 4812, according to Laurent, 1961, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 64: 74. Type locality: "Tette", Mozambique. Synonymy with Hyperolius flavoviridis by Peters, 1882, Naturwiss. Reise Mossambique, Zool. 3: 163. Synonymy by Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 402; Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 372.

Hyperolius cinctiventris Cope, 1862, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 14: 342. Holotype: ANSP 11322, according to Malnate, 1971, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 123: 350. Type locality: "Umvoti", KwaZulu-Natal, Rep. South Africa. Provisional synonymy with Hyperolius marmoratus marmoratus by Laurent, 1943, Ann. Mus. R. Congo Belge, Tervuren, Zool., 4: 67; and Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 196. Synonymy with Hyperolius argus by Poynton, 1986, S. Afr. J. Zool., 21: 149–152.

Rappia argus — Günther, 1869 "1868", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868: 479; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 122; Tornier, 1896, in Möbius (ed.), Deutsch Ost-Afr., 3: 146.

Rappia cinctiventris — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 126; Boettger, 1888, Ber. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 1888: 98.

Hyperolius argus — Peters, 1882, Naturwiss. Reise Mossambique, Zool. 3: 165; Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 252, 324.

Rappia flavoviridis — Boulenger, 1883, Zool. Rec., 19: 20, by implication.

Rappia platycephalus Pfeffer, 1893, Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst., 10: 96. Syntypes: ZMH, destroyed. Type locality: "Quilimane" (= Quelimane), Mozambique. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 372.

Rappia flavoviridis — Pfeffer, 1893, Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst., 10: 30.

Rappia tettensis — Tornier, 1896, in Möbius (ed.), Deutsch Ost-Afr., 3: 96.

Rappia flaviviridis — Tornier, 1896, in Möbius (ed.), Deutsch Ost-Afr., 3: 96. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Rappia platycephala — Tornier, 1896, in Möbius (ed.), Deutsch Ost-Afr., 3: 96.

Hyperolius flavoviridis — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 252.

Hyperolius cinctiventris — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 252, 325.

Hyperolius platycephalus — Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 251, 328; Ahl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 305.

Hyperolius ahli Loveridge, 1936, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 79: 402. Holotype: MCZ 20682, by original designation. Type locality: "Peccatoni", near Witu, Kenya. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1957, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 117: 331; subspecies status rejected by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 188.

Hyperolius argus argus — Laurent, 1951, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 82: 47; Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 356.

Hyperolius argus ahli — Loveridge, 1957, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 117: 331.

Hyperolius böckii Koesen, 1968, Revu, Netherlands, 7: 17. Holotype: Not designated. Type locality: Mombassa, Kenya. Nomen nudum. Synonymy by Perret, 1980, Copeia, 1980: 155.

Common Names

Argus Reed Frog (Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 24; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Broadley, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 35; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 246; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 163; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 149; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 152; Bishop, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 137; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 242).

Argus Sedge Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 152 [alternative name]).

Argus-eyed Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 152 [alternative name]).

Argus-spotted Sedge Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 152 [alternative name]).

Yellow Spotted Reed Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7).

Golden Spotted Reed Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 246).

Golden Sedge Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 7; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 246).

Boror Reed Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 66).

Distribution

Near water in low elevation dense savanna of the eastern coastal plain of Africa from southern Somalia to KwaZulu-Natal (Rep. South Africa); expected in Eswatini.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Eswatini

Comment

See Poynton, 1986, S. Afr. J. Zool., 21: 149–152, for review of taxonomy, nomenclature, evidence of intergradation with Hyperolius semidiscus, and reallocation of specimens previously assigned to Hyperolius puncticulatus. Schiøtz, 1975, Treefrogs E. Afr.: 157–161, argued against the recognition of subspecies. See accounts by Poynton and Broadley, 1987, Ann. Natal Mus., 28: 199–201, Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 137–139, Schiøtz, 1999, Treefrogs Afr.: 172–173, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 149–150, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 152–153, Bishop, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 137–139, Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 342–346, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 242–243. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 155, provided an account for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 207, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Harper, Measey, Patrick, Menegon, and Vonesh, 2010, Field Guide Amph. E. Arc Mts. Tanzania and Kenya: 176–177, provided a brief account. Ohler and Frétey, 2014, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist., 103: 89, provided a brief discussion of a collection of Hyperolius cf. argus from northern Mozambique. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 40, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 19, provided a range map for Kenya, photograph, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 200–201, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Tillack, de Ruiter, and Rödel, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 97: 418, reported on the collection, provenance, and early literature of the syntypes of Hyperolius argus, Hyperolius tettensis, and Hyperolius flavoviridis.

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