Cacosternum boettgeri (Boulenger, 1882)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Cacosterninae > Genus: Cacosternum > Species: Cacosternum boettgeri

Arthroleptis boettgeri Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 118. Syntypes: BMNH (4 specimens), including animal figured on pl. 11, fig. 6 in the original publication; these specimens being BMNH 1947.2.30.77–80 (formerly 1879.8.5.18–21) according to museum records. Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 110, reported a BMNH "holotype". Type locality: "Vleis [= grassy marshes], Kaffraria", Cape Province, Rep. South Africa.

Cacosternum boettgeriBoulenger, 1906, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, 17: 317–323; Boulenger, 1910, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 5: 533.

Arthroleptis schebeni Nieden, 1914 "1913", Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1913: 451. Syntypes: ZMB (4 specimens), by original designation. Type locality: "Deutsch-Südwestafrika [= Namibia] .... Klein Nauas (in der Kalahari". Synonymy by Mertens, 1955, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 490: 1–171.

Cacosternum boettgeri boettgeriHewitt, 1926, Ann. Natal Mus., 5: 440. 

English Names

Boettger's Frog (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 104).

Dainty Frog (Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 80; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 167).

Common Caco (Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 182).

Common Dainty Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 182).

Boettger's Dainty Frog (Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 182; Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 131; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 287; Scott, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 222).

Boettger's Froglet (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 182).

Boettger's Metal Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 98).

Boettger's Caco (Scott, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 222; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 364).

Boettger's Dainty Frog (Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 198; Channing, Schmitz, Burger, and Kielgast, 2013, Zootaxa, 3701: 529).

Distribution

Throughout Namibia to at least the Angola border (see comment), Rep. South Africa, Eswatini, southern Mozambique, southern Botswana, through Zimbabwe to southern Zambia (see comment); expected in northeastern Angola; see comment regarding Ethiopian records. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Angola

Comment

See accounts by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 146–147, Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 174, Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 110–111, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 287–288, Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 284–286, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 364-365. See comment under Cacosternum striatus. Largen, 2001, Tropical Zool., 14: 344, commented on distribution. Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 263-264, removed the Tanzania and Kenya population from this taxon as Cacosternum plimptoni. With the removal of Cacosternum plimptoni the status of the Ethiopian population remains questionable as noted by Zimkus, 2008, Herpetol. Rev., 39: 233. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 1137–138, discussed the species in Lesotho. See account, photograph, and map for Ethiopia by Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 198–199. Channing, Schmitz, Burger, and Kielgast, 2013, Zootaxa, 3701: 529–530, commented on this species and placed it phylogenetically and suggested that the Ethiopian population assigned to this species almost certainly is an unnamed species. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 332, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Baptista, Conradie, Vaz Pinto, and Branch, 2019, In Huntley, Russo, Lages, and Ferrand (eds.), Biodiversity in Angola: 258, noted specimens near the Angola border in the Caprivi strip of Namibia, and Omusati and southern provinces of Zambia, adjacent to the Angola border, suggesting its eventual discovery there. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 62, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 368–369, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map which cast doubt on records from Zimbabwe and Zambia.  

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