Schismaderma carens (Smith, 1848)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Schismaderma > Species: Schismaderma carens

Bufo carens Smith, 1848, Illust. Zool. S. Afr., 3 (Part 27): pl. 68, fig. 1 and facing page. Syntypes: BMNH 1865.5.11.124–126, 1858.11.25.91–93, according to Grandison, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 76. Type locality: "Interior of Southern Africa".

Schismaderma lateralis Smith, 1849, Illust. Zool. S. Afr., 3 (Part 28, Errata sheet): 1 p. and Smith, 1849, Illust. Zool. S. Afr., 3 (Appendix): 28. Replacement name for Bufo carens.

Schismaderma carensGünther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 138; Van Dijk, 1966, Ann. Natal Mus., 18: 255.

English Names

Red Toad (Rose, 1950, Rep. Amph. S. Afr.: 107; Rose, 1962, Rep. Amph. S. Afr., Ed. 2: 102; Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 78; Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 108; Broadley, 1971, Puku, 6: 110; Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 22; 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: 78; Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 44; Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 103; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 117; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 190).

Red-backed Toad (Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 64).

African Split-skin Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 45).

Distribution

Southwestern Kenya near the border of Tanzania, extreme eastern Angola, and southeastern Dem. Rep. Congo through Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and along the Botswana border to northeastern Rep. South Africa, possibly into Lesotho and the Caprivi of Namibia.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Botswana, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Lesotho, Namibia

Comment

Reviewed by Poynton, 1964, Ann. Natal Mus., 17: 60–62, as Bufo carens. See accounts by Poynton and Broadley, 1988, Ann. Natal Mus., 29: 484–485, Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 103–105, Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 117–119, Theron and Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 92–94, Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 554–555, and Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 190–192, provided accounts. Stevens, 1974, Arnoldia, Zimbabwe, 6: 5, reported one specimen from near Chikwawa in southeastern Malawi. Bates and Haacke, 2003, Navors. Nas. Mus. Bloemfontein, 19: 141, suggested the possible presence of this species in Lesotho. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 133–134, provided an account for Malawi.Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 153–155, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Harper, Measey, Patrick, Menegon, and Vonesh, 2010, Field Guide Amph. E. Arc Mts. Tanzania and Kenya: 156–157, provided a brief account and photograph for the Eastern Arc Mountains region of Tanzania and Kenya. Viertel and Channing, 2017, Alytes, 33: 38–46, reported on larval morphology. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 29, provided a photograph, Zululand regional map, and a brief account of life history and identification. See Bittencourt-Silva, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (2: e181): 4, for comments on systematics, morphology, and ecology in western Zambia. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 15, provided a range map for Kenya, photograph, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 82–83, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Dehling and Sinsch, 2023, Diversity, 15 (512): 1–81, discussed the range, identification, natural history, advertisement call, and conservation status in Rwanda. 

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.