Xenopus wittei Tinsley, Kobel, and Fischberg, 1979

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

Xenopus wittei Tinsley, Kobel, and Fischberg, 1979, J. Zool., London, 188: 73. Holotype: BMNH 1977.2039, by original designation. Type locality: "Chelima Forest (waterhole alongside Kabale—Rutenga road), Kigezi District, S.W. Uganda; alt. 2200 m. 1° 04′ S, 29° 55′ E".

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

English Names

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

De Witte's Clawed Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 246).

Distribution

Highland swamps and lakes bordering the Western Rift in southwestern Uganda, western Rwanda, Burundi, and the Kahuzi-Biega and Lubero Highlands, eastern Dem. Rep Congo, 1200 to 2300 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Burundi, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Rwanda, Uganda

Comment

Specimens mentioned as Xenopus (laevis) bunyoniensis by Tymowska and Fischberg, 1973, Chromosoma, Berlin, 44: 337, are of this species. Closely related to Xenopus vestitus with similar karyotypes (2n=72); Tinsley, Kobel, and Fischberg, 1979, J. Zool., London, 188: 95, suggested that they share an allopolyploid origin with one ancestor in common. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 246-257, provided an account. Evans, Greenbaum, Chifundera, Carter, Tobias, Mendel, and Kelley, 2011, J. Zool., London, 283: XXX, commented on the range. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 299–300, provided information on comparative larval morphology. In the Xenopus amieti group of Evans, Carter, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Kelley, McLaughlin, Pauwels, Portik, Stanley, Tinsley, Tobias, and Blackburn, 2015, PLoS One, 10(12): e0142823: 29. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 48–49, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Dehling and Sinsch, 2023, Diversity, 15 (512): 1–81, discussed the range, identification, natural history, advertisement call, and conservation status in Rwanda. Behangana, Byaruhanga, Magala, Katumba, Kagurusi, Dendi, and Luiselli, 2023, Wetlands, 43(88): 1–13, reported on presence in the wetlands of southwestern Uganda.  

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.