Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Pyxicephalidae > Subfamily: Pyxicephalinae > Genus: Pyxicephalus > Species: Pyxicephalus adspersus

Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 46, 84. Syntypes: MNHNP 4525 and 4527 (8 specimens total) (according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 40) and RMNH 2258 (2 specimens), according to Gassó Miracle, van den Hoek Ostende, and Arntzen, 2007, Zootaxa, 1482: 53. Type locality: "Promontorium Bonae Spei" (=Cape of Good Hope, Rep. South Africa).

Bombinator adspersus Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 84. Name proposed as an objective synonym of Pyxicephalus adspersus to reference jar label names of syntypes in the RMNH and MNHNP.

Tomopterna adspersa — Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 444; Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 7.

Pyxicephalus adspersus — Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 444; Werner, 1910, Denkschr. Med. Naturwiss. Ges. Jena, 16: 298; FitzSimons, 1930, Ann. Transvaal Mus., 14: 41.

Rana adspersa — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 33; Boulenger, 1907, Mem. Proc. Manchester Lit. Philos. Soc., 51: 5.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersus — Monard, 1937 "1936", Bull. Soc. Neuchatel. Sci. Nat., 62: 46.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersa — Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 40; Mertens, 1971, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 529: 7; Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233; by implication.

Rana adspersa adspersa — Loveridge, 1950, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc., 19: 253; Mertens, 1955, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 490: 28.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersa — Mertens, 1971, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 529: 71.

Rana (Pyxicephalus) adspersa adspersa — Dubois, 1981, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 15: 233, by implication.

Pyxicephalus adspersus adspersus — Parry, 1982, Ann. Natal Mus., 25: 289; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 66; by implication.

Common Names

Bullfrog (Hewitt, 1937, Guide Vert. Fauna E. Cape Province, Rept. Amph. Fishes: 91; Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 46; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 130; Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 15; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 4; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 114).

South African Speckled Frog (Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 153).

Giant Pyxie (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 130; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 114).

African Bullfrog (Wood, 1863, Illust. Nat. Hist., 3: 153; Broadley, 1971, Puku, 6: 112; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 4; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 346; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 319).

Giant Pyxie (Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 4).

Giant Bullfrog (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 78; Du Preez and Cook, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 300; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 414).

Highveld Bullfrog (Du Preez and Cook, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 300 [alternative name]).

Tschudi's African Bullfrog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 106).

Distribution

Dry savannas of southwestern Angola, Namibia, and inland Rep. South Africa from central Eastern Cape Province, through northern KwaZulu-Natal, western Lesotho, and Eswatini north through Botswana, Zimbabwe, and western Mozambique and Malawi to Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya; likely to be found in Katanga, Dem. Rep. Congo and extreme southern Angola. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Comment

 Auerbach, 1987, Amph. Rept. Botswana: 43–44, provided a summary account for Pyxicephalus adspersus adspersus and grid map for Botswana. Species limits revised by Channing, Du Preez, and Passmore, 1994, J. Zool., London, 234: 141-148, who summarized previous confusions and the poorly understood distribution. See comment under Pyxicephalus edulis. Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.; 346-348, Du Preez and Cook, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 300-303, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 319-322, and Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 103-104 (who discussed a possibly cryptic species on page 104-106, provided accounts. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 124, discussed the species in Lesotho. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 288-290, provided an account for Malawi. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 344, provided information on comparative larval morphology. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2017, Frogs S. Afr., Compl. Guide: 440–441, provided an account, including a polygon range map for southern Africa, photograph, identification features, adult and larval morphology, habitat, and call. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 153, noted that nominal Pyxicephalus adspersus from Angola are Pyxicephalus edulis. See Bittencourt-Silva, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (2: e181): 12–13, for comment on population likely of this species in western Zambia. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 376–377, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Baptista, António, and Branch, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (e203): 96–130, reported on specimens from Bicuar National Park, southwestern Angola. 

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