Ptychadena porosissima (Steindachner, 1867)

English Names

Three-striped Rana (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 158; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 158).

Three-striped Grass Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5).

Striped Grass Frog (Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 158; Minter and Passmore, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 292); Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 114; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 318; Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 185).

Steindachner's Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15).

Grassland Ridged Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 158; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 337; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 311; Minter and Passmore, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 292; Lötters, Wagner, Bwong, Schick, Malonza, Muchai, Wasonga, and Veith, 2007, Fieldguide Amph. Rept. Kakamega Forest: 23).

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

Distribution

Western and central Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to eastern Rep. South Africa, west to southwestern and northeastern Angola (see comment) through southern Dem. Rep. Congo and northern Mozambique (but see comment), occurring mostly in cooler regions; isolated and old record for Lake Tana, 1900 m elevation, Ethiopia; likely in Lesotho and Burundi. 

Comment

Discussed by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 129. Erroneously considered a synonym of Ptychadena subpunctata by Loveridge, 1953, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 110: 329, and Ptychadena mascareniensis by Guibé and Lamotte, 1957, Bull. Inst. Franç. Afr. Noire, Ser. A, 19: 978. Reviewed by Schmidt and Inger, 1959, Explor. Parc Natl. Upemba, Miss. G.F. de Witte, 56: 96-101. Passmore, 1977, S. Afr. J. Sci., 73: 212–214, described the advertisement call. See also accounts by Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 149-150, Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 84-85, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 337-338, Minter and Passmore, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 292-293, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 311-312, Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 143-145, Lötters, Wagner, Bwong, Schick, Malonza, Muchai, Wasonga, and Veith, 2007, Fieldguide Amph. Rept. Kakamega Forest: 23-24, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 318-319, provided accounts. Bwong, Chira, Schick, Veith, and Lötters, 2009, Salamandra, 45: 129-146, discussed the assignment of a population in western Kenya to this taxon. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 142, suggested the possible presence of this species in Lesotho. See account, photograph, and map for Ethiopia by Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 185. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 265, provided an account for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 311, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Dehling and Sinsch, 2013, Zool. Anz., 253: 143–157, reported on the morphology and molecular phylogenetics of this species compared with others found in Rwanda. Ohler and Frétey, 2014, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist., 103: 100, provided a brief discussion of a collection from northern Mozambique. Conradie, Bittencourt-Silva, Engelbrecht, Loader, Menegon, Nanvonamuquitxo, Scott, and Tolley, 2016, Zoosyst. Evol., Berlin, 92: 163–180, reported Ptychadeba cf. porosissima from Mount Namuli, Zambezia Province, Mozambique. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 138–139, provided a map for Angola and brief discussion of the literature. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 58, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. See Bittencourt-Silva, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (2: e181): 12, for comment on population in western Zambia. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 42, provided a photograph, range map, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 334–335, 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. Ceríaco, Marques, André, Afonso, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2020, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 162: 410–411, discussed the location and status of the MD paratypes, but curiously not the holotype.  

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