Xenopus pygmaeus Loumont, 1986

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pipidae > Subfamily: Dactylethrinae > Genus: Xenopus > Species: Xenopus pygmaeus

Xenopus pygmaeus Loumont, 1986, Rev. Suisse Zool., 93: 756. Holotype: MHNG 2196.4, by original designation. Type locality: "Bouchia (3° 45′N, 18° 10′ E), 450 m, approx. 40 km Southeast of M'Baiki, Central African Republic".

Xenopus (Xenopus) pygmaeusKobel, Barandun, and Thiebaud, 1998, Herpetol. J., 8: 13.

English Names

Bouchia Clawed Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 97).

Pygmy Clawed Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 46). 

Distribution

Batéké Plateau National Park, Hatu Ogooé Province, Gabon, and Bagandou, Etoi and Bouchia in southern Central African Republic, east to northeastern and southern Dem. Rep. Congo and Semliki in western Uganda; reported from northwestern Zambia (Mwinilunga District, near Ikelenge); expected in intervening northern Rep. Congo. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Gabon, Uganda

Likely/Controversially Present: Congo, Republic of the

Comment

A tetraploid species in the Xenopus fraseri group according to original publication. Zimkus and Larson, 2012, Herpetol. Rev., 43: 99, provided a record for Gabon and commented on the known range. Wagner, Wilms, Rödder, and Schmitz, 2013, Salamandra, 49: 206–210, reported the species from northwestern Zambia and discussed the range. In the reformulated Xenopus amieti group of Evans, Carter, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Kelley, McLaughlin, Pauwels, Portik, Stanley, Tinsley, Tobias, and Blackburn, 2015, PLoS One, 10(12): e0142823: 29. See Bittencourt-Silva, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (2: e181): 10, for comment on population in western Zambia. Mali, Banda, Chifundera, Badjedjea, Sebe, Lokasola, Ewango, Tungaluna, and Akaibe, 2019, Am. J. Zool., 2: 38–43, reported the species from the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, northeastern Dem. Rep. Congo. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 46–47, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. 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. Badjedjea, Masudi, Akaibe, and Gvoždík, 2022, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 16 (1: e301): 59, commented on a population from the Kokolopori Bonobo Nature Reserve, Tshuapa Province, Dem. Rep. Congo. 

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