Pyxicephalus Tschudi, 1838

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Pyxicephalinae > Genus: Pyxicephalus
5 species

Pyxicephalus Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 46. Type species: Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838, by subsequent designation of Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 32.

Maltzania Boettger, 1881, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 12: 417. Type species: Maltzania bufonia Boettger, 1881, by monotypy. Synonymy by Barbour and Loveridge, 1928, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 50: 200. Synonymy by Boulenger, 1882, Zool. Rec., 18: 14; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 7.

Phrynopsis Pfeffer, 1893, Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst., 10: 101. Type species: Phrynopsis boulengerii Pfeffer, 1893, by monotypy. Synonymy with Rana (sensu lato) by Barbour and Loveridge, 1928, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 50: 200. Preoccupied by Phrynopsis Rafinesque, 1815, Analyse Nat.: 107.

Common Names

African Bullfrogs (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 106; Spawls, Mazuch, and Mohammad, 2023, Handb. Amph. Rept. NE Afr.: 119).

Bullfrogs (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 112; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 345; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 318; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 410).

Distribution

Nonforested areas of subsaharan Africa, seemingly in isolated populations. 

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 subfamily Raninae, Tribe Pyxicephalini according to Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 66. Subfamily Pyxicephalinae, according to Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 317, following Clarke, 1981. See comment under Aubria. Regarded as a subgenus of Rana by Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 225-284, and related to the Rana occipitalis group of Euphlyctis (now Hoplobatrachus occipitalis group), a view not in agreement with Clarke, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 285-311, who regarded Pyxicephalus and Aubria as sister-taxa and together the sister-taxon of Conraua + the Rana (Euphlyctis) occipitalis group (now Hoplobatrachus occipitalis group). Subsequently regarded as a genus by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 66, and Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 317. Channing, Du Preez, and Passmore, 1994, J. Zool., London, 234: 141-148, diagnosed the two species and discussed their biology. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 345-351, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 410-417, provided keys and accounts for the species of southern Africa. Nago, Grell, Sinsin, and Rödel, 2006, Salamandra, 42: 93-108, discussed the distinctiveness of Pyxicephalus adspersus and Pyxicephalus edulis. Blackburn, 2008, Herpetol. Rev., 39: 364, briefly discussed the taxonomic uncertainty of West Africa populations. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 344–348, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 436–445, provided accounts for the species of southern Africa and an identification key. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 376–379, provided brief accounts, photographs, and range maps for the species.

Contained taxa (5 sp.):

Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838
Pyxicephalus angusticeps Parry, 1982
Pyxicephalus beytelli Du Preez, Netherlands, Rödel, and Channing, 2024
Pyxicephalus edulis Peters, 1854
Pyxicephalus obbianus Calabresi, 1927

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.