Microbatrachella capensis (Boulenger, 1910)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Cacosterninae > Genus: Microbatrachella > Species: Microbatrachella capensis

Phrynobatrachus capensis Boulenger, 1910, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 5: 528-529, 538. Holotype: SAM; lost according to Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 145. Type locality: "Cape Colony: Cape Division .... Cape Flats", Western Cape Province, Rep. South Africa.

Microbatrachus capensis — Hewitt, 1926, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 20: 420.

Microbatrachella capensis — Hewitt, 1926, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 20: corrigendum insert following page 450.

Common Names

Micro Frog (Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 71; Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 163; Rose, 1962, Rep. Amph. S. Afr., Ed. 2: 74; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 166; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 178; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 386).

Cape Flats Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 102).

Cape Micro Frogs (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 374).

Distribution

Coastal lowlands from Cape Town east to the Agulhas Plain, Western Cape Province, Rep. South Africa.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: South Africa

Endemic: South Africa

Comment

De Villiers, 1988, in Branch (ed.), South Afr. Red Data Book, Amph. Rept.: 29–31, noted that this species may be extirpated, although in his account, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 298–299, noted a number of relict populations where the frog may be abundant. See accounts by De Villiers, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 241–244, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 386–387. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 469, who noted its widespread extirpation. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 338–339, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 428–429, provided an account, including a polygon range map, photograph, identification features, adult and larval morphology, habitat, and call. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 374–375, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Dorse and Dorse, 2023, Field Guide Fynbos Fauna: 48–49, provided a brief account, polygon range map, and photograph.

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