Cacosternum nanum Boulenger, 1887

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

Cacosternum nanum Boulenger, 1887, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 5, 20: 52. Syntypes: BMNH (2 specimens), by original designation, these being BMNH 1947.2.30.75–76 (formerly 1879.6.5.16–17) according to museum records. Type locality: "Vleis, Kaffraria", Cape Province, South Africa. Placed on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology by Opinion 1921, Anonymous, 1999, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 56: 96–100.

Cacosternum boettgeri albiventer Hewitt, 1926, Ann. Natal Mus., 5: 438. Holotype: NMP, by original designation. Type locality: "Marianhill, Natal", Rep. South Africa. Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 148.

Cacosternum magnaglandiferus Inger, 1959, in Hanström et al. (eds.), S. Afr. Animal Life: 523. Holotype: ZMLU 265, by original designation. Type locality: "Storms River mouth, Tzitzikama Forest, Cape Province", Rep. South Africa. Synonymy by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 149.

Cacosternum nanum nanum — Poynton, 1963, Ann. Natal Mus., 15: 323; Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 174.

Cacosternum poyntoni Lambiris, 1988, S. Afr. J. Zool., 23: 63. Holotype: NMP 1036 (Type no. 3828), by original designation. Type locality: "Carter's Nursery, Town Bush Valley, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa (29° 33′ 30″ S/30° 20′ 18″ E), at an altitude of 800 m". Synonymy by Channing, Schmitz, Burger, and Kielgast, 2013, Zootaxa, 3701: 534. 

Common Names

Dainty Frog (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 167).

Bronze Caco (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 184; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 372).

Small Froglet (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Dark-throated Froglet (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Dainty Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 184).

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

Dwarf Dainty Frog (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 291; Channing, Schmitz, Burger, and Kielgast, 2013, Zootaxa, 3701: 535). 

Bronze Caco (Scott, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 232).

Bronze Dainty Frog (Scott, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 232 [alternative name]).

Dwarf Dainty Frog (Scott, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 232 [alternative name]).

Nursery Metal Frog (Cacosternum poyntoni [no longer recognized]:Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 98).

Poynton's Caco (Cacosternum poyntoni [no longer recognized]: Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 235; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 378).

Distribution

Southern Mozambique; eastern Transvaal midlands, Natal, to eastern and southern Eastern Cape Province, Rep. South Africa; expected in Lesotho.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa

Likely/Controversially Present: Lesotho

Comment

See accounts by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 147–148, Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 27: 174–175, Lambiris, 1988, Lammergeyer, 39: 112–113, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 291–292, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 372–373. Removed from the synonymy of Cacosternum boettgeri by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 148, where it had been placed by Boulenger, 1910, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 5: 533. Scott, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 232–233, provided an account, as did Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 277–284, both as Cacosternum nanum nanum. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 138–140, discussed the species (as Cacosternum nanum nanum) in Lesotho. See comments and revision by Channing, Schmitz, Burger, and Kielgast, 2013, Zootaxa, 3701: 518–550. See accounts (as Cacosternum poyntoni) by Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 235–236, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 378–379 (who suggested that the single specimen might be an atypical Cacosternum nanum). Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 336–337, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 416–417, provided an account, including a polygon range map, photograph, identification features, adult and larval morphology, habitat, and call. Conradie, 2014, Zootaxa, 3785: 438–452, reported on the molecular phylogenetics of the genus and documented that Cacosternum nanum and Cacosternum parvum are not each others' closest relatives. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 64, 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.: 370–371, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Kushata, Conradie, Cherry, and Daniels, 2020, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 130: 783–799, reported on mtDNA phylogeographic structure in the Eastern and Western Cape Province, Rep. South Africa. Dorse and Dorse, 2023, Field Guide Fynbos Fauna: 48–49, provided a brief account, polygon range map for the Cape Region of South Africa, and photograph. 

 

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