Phrynobatrachus mababiensis FitzSimons, 1932

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

Phrynobatrachus mababiensis FitzSimons, 1932, Ann. Transvaal Mus., 15: 40. Holotype: TMP 14838 (formerly Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition 986), by original designation. Type locality: "Tsotsoroga Pan, Mababe Flats", Rep. South Africa.

Phrynobatrachus vanrooyeni Hoffman, 1940, Soöl. Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 1: 99. Holotype: NMB 2092, by original designation. Type locality: "farm Broedershoek, [near] Greytown, Natal", Rep. South Africa. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 329, 381; and Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 141.

Phrynobatrachus chitialaensis Hoffman, 1944, Soöl. Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 1: 177. Holotype: NMB A2672, by original designation. Type locality: "Chitiala [= Chitala River], Nyasaland", Tanzania. Synonymy by Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 329, 381.

Phrynobatrachus broomi FitzSimons, 1948, Spec. Publ. R. Soc. S. Afr.: 239. Holotype: TMP 21717, by original designation. Type locality: "Mount Edgecombe, near Durban, Natal", Rep. South Africa. Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 141.

Phrynobatrachus ukingensis mababiensis — Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 329, 381; Loveridge, 1953, Q. J. Florida Acad. Sci., 16: 149; Poynton, 1969 "1966", Mem. Inst. Invest. Cient. Moçambique, Ser. A, Cienc. Biol., 8: 23.

Phrynobatrachus mababiensis — Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 170.

Common Names

Mababe Puddle Frog (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 305; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 284; Spawls, Mazuch, and Mohammad, 2023, Handb. Amph. Rept. NE Afr.: 86).

Dwarf Puddle Frog (Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 80; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 164; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 170; Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 251).

Common Cricket Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 170).

Mababi Puddle Frog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 128).

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

Chitiala Frog (Phrynobatrachus chitialaensis [no longer recognized]: Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 162).

Distribution

Savannas of East Africa (Tanzania and extreme southern Somalia) to Transkei (Rep. South Africa), west to northern Namibia, Botswana, and throughout Angola; southern Dem. Rep. Congo and southern Kenya. See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Botswana, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Comment

Probably a subspecies of Phrynobatrachus ukingensis according to R. Laurent In Grandison, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 447). J.C. Poynton In Grandison, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 447, disagreed and suggested that Phrynobatrachus mababiensis more closely resembles Phrynobatrachus parvulus, a taxon not distinguished from Phrynobatrachus mababiensis by Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 381. See Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 165–169, for a discussion of the types of Phrynobatrachus parvulus, Phrynobatrachus ukingensis, and Phrynobatrachus mababiensis. Auerbach, 1987, Amph. Rept. Botswana: 52–53, provided a summary account and grid map for Botswana. See accounts by Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 107–108, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 305–307, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 284–285, Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 251–253, and Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 180–184 (who regarded this taxon to likely be a junior synonym of Phrynobatrachus albifer on the basis of examination of the holotype). Frétey, 2008, Alytes, 25: 99–172, summarized the literature. Lötters, Wagner, Bwong, Schick, Malonza, Muchai, Wasonga, and Veith, 2007, Fieldguide Amph. Rept. Kakamega Forest: 15–16, provided an account for Phrynobatrachus cf mababiensis. In species group B of Zimkus, Rödel, and Hillers, 2010, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 55: 883–900, who noted that nominal Phrynobatrachus mababiensis covers two distantly related species. Zimkus and Schick, 2010, Syst. Biodiversity, 8: 39–47, noted that nominal Phrynobatrachus mababiensis appears to be composed of at least three lineages. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 221–224, provided an account for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 278–279, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 316–317, provided an account, including a polygon range map for southern Africa, photograph, identification features, adult and larval morphology, habitat, and call. Ohler and Frétey, 2014, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist., 103: 92, provided a brief discussion of a collection from northern Mozambique. Conradie, Bittencourt-Silva, Engelbrecht, Loader, Menegon, Nanvonamuquitxo, Scott, and Tolley, 2016, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 92: 163–180, reported populations from Mount Namuli (Zambezia Province) and Mount M'pàluwé (Nampula Province), Mozambique. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 144–145, provided a map for Angola and brief discussion of the literature, noting the problematic nature of identifications. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 51, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. Butler, Ceríaco, Marques, Bandeira, Júlio, Heinicke, and Bauer, 2019, Herpetol. Rev., 50: 225–240, reported on a collection (as Phrynobatrachus cf. mababiensis) from Huila Province, southwestern Angola. See Bittencourt-Silva, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (2: e181): 8, briefly discussed confusion with Phrynobatrachus cf. parvulus in western Zambia. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 46, provided a photograph, range map, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 296–297, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Baptista, António, and Branch, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (e203): 96–130, reported on specimens from Bicuar National Park, southwestern Angola. In the Phrynobatrachus calcaratus group of Goutte, Reyes-Velasco, and Boissinot, 2019, ZooKeys, 824: 53–70. Ernst, Lautenschläger, Branquima, and Hölting, 2020, Zoosyst. Evol., 96: 255, noted the presence of Phrynobatrachus cf. mababiensis, in Uigé Province, northwestern Angola. Conradie, Keates, Verburgt, Baptista, and Harvey, 2023, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 17: 40–41, provided an account and dot map of the species in Angola. Spawls, Mazuch, and Mohammad, 2023, Handb. Amph. Rept. NE Afr.: 87–88, provided an account addressing identification, natural history, conservation status, and range in Somalia. Miguel, Kaiser, Vargas, and Borges-Martins, 2025, Herpetol. Notes, 18: 635–650, reported records from eastern Gilé National Park, eastern Zambesia, Mozambique, and briefly discussed the identification, range, and habitat in Mozambique. Gedow Amira and Hussein Numin, 2026, Checklist Amph. Rept. Somalia, 1st Ed.: 27, detailed the known distribution in Somalia by administrative region (gobol).  

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