Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

Common Names

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).

Common Ornate Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 266).

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, 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. 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. 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.     

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• 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
• For access to available specimen data for this species, from over 350 scientific collections, go to Vertnet.