Amietia fuscigula (Duméril and Bibron, 1841)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Cacosterninae > Genus: Amietia > Species: Amietia fuscigula

Rana fuscigula Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 386. Holotype: MNHNP 4471, according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 36. See comments by Blackburn and Scali, 2014, Herpetol. Monogr., 28: 40. Type locality: "environs du cap de Bonne-Espérance", Rep. South Africa.

Rana fuscigula fuscigula — Hewitt, 1927, Rec. Albany Mus., 3: 408; Parker, 1936, Novit. Zool., 40: 141.

Rana (Rana) fuscigula — Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 36; Mertens, 1971, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 529: 7; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 42.

Rana (Afrana) fuscigula — Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 334.

Afrana fuscigula — Visser and Channing, 1997, J. Afr. Zool., 111: 192.

Amietia fuscigula — Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 366.

Common Names

Dark-throated River Frog (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 95; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 132).

Dusky-throated River Frog (Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 46; Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 162; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 132).

Dark-throated Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15).

Cape River Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 132; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 259; Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 273; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 400; Channing, Dehling, Lötters, and Ernst, 2016, Zootaxa, 4155: 27).

Cape Rana (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 141; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 5; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 132).

Brown-throated Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 107).

Cape River Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 354).

Distribution

Southern parts of Rep. South Africa, from Rhodes in the east to the vicinity of Cape Town on the west. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: South Africa

Endemic: South Africa

Comment

Prior to the revision of Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297, placed in the Section Strongylopus, subgenus Afrana of Rana of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 334. Reviewed by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 103–109, who clarified the Rana angolensis–Rana fuscigula problem. Further diagnosis in Channing, 1978, Ann. Natal Mus., 23: 361–365. See brief account by Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 93–94, and longer ones by Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 259–260, Channing, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 273–274, Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 96–97, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 400–401. The name Rana hymenopus, although properly a synonym of Rana fuscigula has generally been applied to the species currently referred to as Amietia umbraculata. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 283, noted an unnamed and related species in Malawi. See comment under Strongylopus hymenopus. Channing and Baptista, 2013, Zootaxa, 3640: 501–520, demonstrated broad confusion in the application of this name outside of the Cape Region of southern South Africa. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 319–320, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 364–365, provided an account, including a polygon range map for southern Africa, photograph, identification features, adult and larval morphology, habitat, and call. See account and revision by Channing, Dehling, Lötters, and Ernst, 2016, Zootaxa, 4155: 28–31. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 354–355, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Dorse and Dorse, 2023, Field Guide Fynbos Fauna: 40–41, provided a brief account, polygon range map, and photograph. 

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