Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

Common Names

Common Ornate Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 266; Spawls, Mazuch, and Mohammad, 2023, Handb. Amph. Rept. NE Afr.: 94, provided an account addressing identification, natural history, conservation status, and range in Ethiopia and Somalia, including a dot map.).

Moeru Frog (Rana moeruensis: Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 158).

Ornate Pyxie (Pyxicephalus ornatus ornatus: Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 79).

Black-throated Pyxie (Pyxicephalus ornatus ornatus: Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 79).

Ornate Frog (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 139; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 148; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 294-295; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 302).

Ornate Burrowing Frog (Broadley, 1971, Puku, 6: 114; Broadley, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 34; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 102).

Hildebrandt's Burrowing Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5).

African Ornate Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 99).

Southern Ornate Frog (Theron and Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 282).

Budgett's Burrowing Frog (Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 9).

Distribution

Subsaharan savannas of Africa from Senegal to western Kenya, southern Sudan (North Kordofan), South Sudan, and extreme western Ethiopia (Gambela), south to the northern parts of South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, and Namibia, to about 1200 m elevation; expected in Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, South Sudan, and Sudan.  

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, South Sudan

Comment

See Schmidt and Inger, 1959, Explor. Parc Natl. Upemba, Miss. G.F. de Witte, 56: 38–41, and Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 141–142, for accounts of central African populations. Auerbach, 1987, Amph. Rept. Botswana: 47, provided a summary account and grid map for Botswana. Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 80–81, discussed the Natal population. Poynton and Haacke, 1993, Ann. Transvaal Mus., 36: 1–16, suggested that Angolan populations approached Hildebrandtia ornatissima (their Hildebrandtia ornata ornatissima) morphologically., provided accounts. Not included in the Somalian herpetofauna by Lanza, 1990, Biogeographia, 14: 409. Rödel, 2000, Herpetofauna W. Afr., 1: 79–84, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 294–295, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 266–268, and Theron and Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 282–283, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 302–303, provided accounts. Nago, Grell, Sinsin, and Rödel, 2006, Salamandra, 42: 93–108, provided a record for Benin. Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 6–16, implied that records from Gambia were flawed. Pauwels and Rödel, 2007, Herpetozoa, Wien, 19: 135–148, did not note this species as occurring in Gabon. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 245–246, provided an account for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 300–301, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Harper, Measey, Patrick, Menegon, and Vonesh, 2010, Field Guide Amph. E. Arc Mts. Tanzania and Kenya: 258–259, provided a brief account and photograph. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 324–325, 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: 95, provided a brief discussion of a collection from northern Mozambique. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 129, provided a map for Angola and brief discussion of literature. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 53, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 39, provided a photograph, range map, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 322–323, 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 and discussed the taxonomic history. Ayoro, Segniagbeto, Hema, Penner, Oueda, Dubois, Rödel, Kabré, and Ohler, 2020, Zoosystema, 42: 547–582, discussed records, identification, and habitat in Burkina Faso. Dehling and Sinsch, 2023, Diversity, 15 (512): 65, specifically excluded this species from the fauna of Rwanda. Segniagbeto, Ohler, Rödel, Luiselli, and Dubois, 2024, Zoosystema, 46: 656, provided a brief account for Togo, discussing habitat, distribution, conservation status, and identification.     

External links:

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• For access to general information see Wikipedia
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• For access to relevant technical literature search Google Scholar
• For images search CalPhoto Images and Google Images
• To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
• 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