Phrynobatrachus latifrons Ahl, 1924

Common Names

Ahl's River Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 103).

Accra River Frog (Phrynobatrachus accraensis [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 103).

White-lipped River Frog (Hylarthroleptis albolabris [no longer recognized]; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 103).

Vogt's River Frog (Phrynobatrachus vogti [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 104).

Savanna Puddle Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 290). 

Distribution

West Africa from Senegal to northern Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and northern Cameroon; expected in Guinea-Bissau and southern Niger, possibly to southern Chad. See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

Likely/Controversially Present: Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Niger

Comment

Considered a synonym of Phrynobatrachus accraensis by Guibé and Lamotte, 1963, Mem. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, 66: 601–627, but recognized as distinct by Schiøtz, 1963, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 125: 45; and Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 363–364. Rödel, 2000, Herpetofauna W. Afr., 1: 153-160, provided an account and noted confusion in the literature, especially with Phrynobatrachus accraensis and Phrynobatrachus francisci. Subsequently regarded as conspecific by  Rödel and Agyei, 2003, Salamandra, 39: 216. See Frétey, 2008, Alytes, 25: 99–172, for a summary of the taxonomic literature and discussion of the relative priority of the names accraensis and latifrons. Barnett, Emms, and Santoni, 2001, Herpetol. Bull., London, 77: 8, reported this species as from Gambia. Padial and De la Riva, 2004, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 18: 96, suggested that this species will be found in southern Mauritania. Schiøtz, 1963, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 125: 45, provided records for Nigeria. See account (as Phrynobatrachus accraensis) by Guibé and Lamotte, 1963, Mem. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, 66: 601–627. Rödel, 2000, Herpetofauna W. Afr., 1: 132, noted that this species (as Phrynobatrachus accraensis) had been mistakenly recorded by Joger and Lambert, 1996, J. Afr. Zool., 110: 21–51, for Mali on the basis of specimens close to Phrynobatrachus latifrons. Padial and De la Riva, 2004, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 18: 96, suggested that this species (as Phrynobatrachus accraensis) will be found in southern Mauritania. Nago, Grell, Sinsin, and Rödel, 2006, Salamandra, 42: 93–108, provided a record (as Phrynobatrachus accraensis)or Benin. See comment under Phrynobatrachus albolabris. Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 6–16, provided a record (as Phrynobatrachus accraensis) for Gambia. Phrynobatrachus albolabris was ecognized as distinct by Perret, 1966, Zool. Jahrb., Jena, Abt. Syst., 93: 364. Schiøtz, 1963, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 125: 43–45, provided records for Nigeria and suggested that Phrynobatrachus accraensis might be a synonym. 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. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 277–278, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Rödel and Glos, 2019, Zoosyst. Evol., 95: 25, reported this species from the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area in southeastern Liberia and commented on identification and habitat preference. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 290–291, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. In the Phrynobatrachus natalensis group of Goutte, Reyes-Velasco, and Boissinot, 2019, ZooKeys, 824: 53–70. Ayoro, Segniagbeto, Hema, Penner, Oueda, Dubois, Rödel, Kabré, and Ohler, 2020, Zoosystema, 42: 547–582, discussed records, identification, and habitat in Burkina Faso. 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. Kako-Wanzalire, Mongo, Ilonga, Mapoli, Mbumba, Neema, Tungaluna, Itoka, and Bogaert, 2021, Tropicultura, 39 (1: 1709): 1–19, briefly discussed habitat preference in north-central and northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo, although the identification, so far removed from the documented range is suspect. Gansa, Agadjihouèdé, and Hounkanrin, 2023, Afr. Zool., 58: 39–56, reported the species from the lower Ouémé Valley, southeastern Benin, and briefly descried habitat preference. Segniagbeto, Ohler, Rödel, Luiselli, and Dubois, 2024, Zoosystema, 46: 652–654, provided a brief account for Togo, discussing habitat, distribution, conservation status, and identification.  

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• For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
• For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
• For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
• For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist