Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
Single word	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Ptychadena mascareniensis (Duméril and Bibron, 1841)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Ptychadenidae > Genus: Ptychadena > Species: Ptychadena mascareniensis

Rana mascareniensis Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 350. Syntypes: MNHNP 4379-4381 (according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 43), MCZ 1044 (on exchange from MNHNP according to Barbour and Loveridge, 1929, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 69: 329), and USNM 10975 (2 specimens) considered probable cotypes by Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 75. Dimensions provided for only one specimen in the original paper. Type locality: "Mascareignes" and "Séchelles"; given as "Island of Réunion, Mascarene Islands (Indian Ocean)" by Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 75, and "Ile Bourbon" (= Réunion), by Blommers-Schlösser and Blanc, 1991, Faune de Madagascar, 75: 131.

Rana savignyi Jan, 1857, Cenni Mus. Civ. Milano: 52. Types: MCSM. Type locality: not stated. Considered a synonym of Rana mascareniensis (along with several other now-recognized species) by Boulenger, 1879, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 4: 92-94; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 52. May actually apply to some other member of the Ptychadena mascareniensis complex (e.g., Ptychadena nilotica) (DRF).

Rana idae Steindachner, 1864, Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, 14: 266. Holotype: NHMW 3185.1, according to Häupl, Tiedemann, and Grillitsch, 1994, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 9: 31. Type locality: "Madagascar". Considered a synonym of Rana mascareniensis (along with several other now-recognized species) by Boulenger, 1879, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 4: 92-94; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 52; Guibé and Lamotte, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 978.

Rana nigrescens Steindachner, 1864, Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, 14: 268. Syntypes: NHMW 3185 (5 specimens), according to Häupl, Tiedemann, and Grillitsch, 1994, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 9: 33. Type locality: "Madagascar". Considered a synonym of Rana mascareniensis (along with several other now-recognized species) by Boulenger, 1879, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 4: 92-94; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 52; Guibé and Lamotte, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 978. Junior homonym of Rana nigrescens LeConte, 1855.

Hyperolius idae — Boettger, 1879, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 11: 42.

Hyperolius nigrescens — Boettger, 1879, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 11: 42.

Rana mascariensis — Meek, 1910, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser., 7: 403. Misspelling.

Rana (Ptychadena) mascareniensis — Boulenger, 1918, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 43: 114; Procter, 1920, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1920: 412; De Witte, 1921, Rev. Zool. Afr., 9: 6; Parker, 1936, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1936: 139; Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233; by implication.

Ptychadena mascareniensis — Deckert, 1938, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1938: 147. Guibé and Lamotte, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 942; Schiøtz, 1963, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 125: 24; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 56; by implication.

Rana (Ptychadena) mascareniensis mascareniensis — De Witte, 1952, Result. Sci., Explor. Hydrobiol. Lac Tanganyika (1946–47), 3: 6; Perret and Mertens, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 568.

Ptychadena mascareniensis mascareniensis — Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 128.

Ptychadena (Ptychadena) mascareniensis — Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 316.

Common Names

Mascarene Frog (Flower, 1933, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1933: 844; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15).

Mascarene Grass Frog (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 99; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 156; Minter and Passmore, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 286 Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 312; Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 172).

Broad-banded Rana (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 159; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 156).

Broad-banded Ridged Frog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 112).

Mascarene Ridged Frog (Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Broadley, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 34; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 156; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 329; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 306).

Mascarene Grassland Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 105).

Mascarene Rocket Frog (Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 306 [alternative name]).

Distribution

Madagascar; introduced on the Seychelles and Mascarene Islands. See comment.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Madagascar

Introduced: Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles

Comment

Andreone, Glaw, Nussbaum, Raxworthy, Vences, and Randrianirina, 2003, J. Nat. Hist., London, 37: 2119-2149, discussed the occurrence of this species on Nosy Be. Glaw and Vences, 2007, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Madagascar, Ed. 3: 98, provided a brief account for Madagascar. Lever, 2003, Naturalized Rept. Amph. World: 202, regarded the populations on Mauritius and Reunion to be introduced. Vences, Kosuch, Rödel, Channing, Glaw, and Böhme, 2004, J. Biogeograph., 31: 593-601, studied molecular phylogeography, provided a map of the range, and suggested that this nominal taxon contains at least five cryptic species: (1) the population in Madagascar (which they regarded as having arrived via over-water dispersal), the Seychelles, and Reunion; (2-3) two in West Africa; and (4-5) two in East Africa (these are treated under Ptychadena "mascareniensis"-DRF). Zimkus, Lawson, Barej, Barratt, Channing, Dash, Dehling, Du Preez, Gehring, Greenbaum, Gvoždík, Harvey, Kielgast, Chifundera, Nagy, Pabijan, Penner, Rödel, Vences, and Lötters, 2016, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 106: 254–269, reported on molecular phylogenetics of the complex, in this case recognizing 12 lineages in the complex, Ptychadena mascareniensis restricted to Madagascar, Ptychadena newtoni and Ptychadena nilotica, and nine unnamed lineages, of which two coexist with Ptychadena mascareniensis in northern and upland eastern Madagascar. The remaining lineages are treated in this catalog under Ptychadena "mascareniensis" for clarity. Cole, 2009, Field Guide. Rept. Amph. Mauritius: 75-76, provided a brief account for Mauritius. Rodriguez, Börner, Pabijan, Gehara, Haddad, and Vences, 2015, Evol. Ecol., 29: 765–785 (and supplemental data), reported on phylogeographic diversity and its causes. Williams, Gower, Labisko, Morel, Bristol, Wilkinson, and Maddock, 2020, Herpetol. Bull., London, 153: 17–21, noted that molecular evidence does not support that the Seychelles population is anything other than introduced.

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.

For access to general information see Wikipedia
For additional sources of general information from other websites search Google
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
For access to available specimen data for this species, from over 350 scientific collections, go to Vertnet.