Phrynobatrachus francisci Boulenger, 1912

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Phrynobatrachidae > Genus: Phrynobatrachus > Species: Phrynobatrachus francisci

Phrynobatrachus francisci Boulenger, 1912, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 8, 10: 141. Holotype: BMNH 1947.2.30.29 (formerly 1911.3.21.10), according to Grandison, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 445. Type locality: "Zaria Province of Northern Nigeria".

Phrynobatrachus Monodi De Witte, 1930, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 2, 2: 614. Holotype: MRAC (field number 956), by original designation. Type locality: "Sous la berge du Niger, entre Kokry et Kayo, en amont de Macina". Synonymy with Phrynobatrachus francisci Lamotte and Xavier, 1966, Bull. Inst. Fondam. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 28: 1605–1619.

English Names

Francisc's Puddle Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 288). 

Warty River Frog (Auliya, Wagner, and Böhme, 2012, Bonn Zool. Bull., 61: 261).

Distribution

Senegal, southern Mauritania, southern Mali, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Ivory Coast, to Burkina Faso and Nigeria; expected in southern Niger, Guinea, Sierra Leone.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo

Likely/Controversially Present: Guinea, Niger, Sierra Leone

Comment

Discussed by Lamotte and Xavier, 1966, Bull. Inst. Fondam. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 28: 343–361. Removed from the synonymy of Phrynobatrachus natalensis by Rödel, 2000, Herpetofauna W. Afr., 1: 165, where it had been placed with by Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 363. Padial and De la Riva, 2004, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 18: 96, suggested that this species will be found in southern Mauritania. Wanger, 2005, Salamandra, 41: 27–33, provided Gambia records. Nago, Grell, Sinsin, and Rödel, 2006, Salamandra, 42: 93–108, provided a record for Benin. Schiøtz, 1963, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 125: 43, provided records for Nigeria. Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 6–16, reported this species for Gambia. Frétey, 2008, Alytes, 25: 99–172, summarized the literature. In species group C of Zimkus, Rödel, and Hillers, 2010, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 55: 883–900. Auliya, Wagner, and Böhme, 2012, Bonn Zool. Bull., 61: 255–281, reported the species from the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 276, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 288–289, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Sampaio, Velo-Antón, Martínez-Freiría, Sánchez-Vialas, Pleguezuelos, Géniez, Crochet, and Brito, 2021, Conserv. Genetics, 22: 233–248, documented with molecular data that previous records of Phrynobatrachus from Mauritania actually apply to Phrynobatrachus francisciPadial, Crochet, Géniez, and Brito, 2013, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 27: 11–22, discussed systematics, distribution, and conservation status in Mauritania as Phrynobatrachus natalensis. See detailed account (as Phrynobatrachus natalensis) for Mauritania by Escoriza and Ben Hassine, 2019, Amph. N. Afr.: 258–263. In the Phrynobatrachus natalensis group of Goutte, Reyes-Velasco, and Boissinot, 2019, ZooKeys, 824: 53–70. Kanga, Kouamé, Zogbass, Gongomin, Agoh, Kouamé, Konan, Adepo-Gourène, Gourène, and Rödel, 2021, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 15: 71–107, commented on conservation status, identification, range, and habitat on the Ivory Coast side of Mont Nimba.

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