Hemisus marmoratus (Peters, 1854)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hemisotidae > Genus: Hemisus > Species: Hemisus marmoratus

Engystoma marmoratum Peters, 1854, Ber. Bekannt. Verhandl. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1854: 628. Syntypes: ZMB 3548 (2 specimens), according to Bauer, Günther, and Robeck, 1996, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 72: 260; ZMB 10107 also listed a syntype by Bauer, Günther, and Klipfel, 1995, in Bauer et al. (eds.), Herpetol. Contr. W.C.H. Peters: 41. Type locality: "Cabaceira", Mozambique. Junior primary homonym of Engystoma marmoratum Guérin-Ménéville, 1838 (= Uperodon systoma), a nomen oblitum, under Art. 23.9 (ICZN, 1999, Internatl. Code Zool. Nomencl., Ed. 4.

Kakophrynus sudanensis Steindachner, 1863, Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Phys. Math. Naturwiss. Kl., 48: 191. Syntypes: NHMW; NHMW 15990 designated lectotype by Häupl and Tiedemann, 1978, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 2: 23, and Häupl, Tiedemann, and Grillitsch, 1994, Kat. Wiss. Samml. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 9: 27. Type locality: "Sudan". Synonymy of "Hemisus sudanense Steind." and Engystoma marmoratus Peters by Rochebrune, 1884, Fauna Senegambie, Amph.: 9. Synonymy with Engystoma marmoratum by Boulenger, 1910, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 5: 535; Sternfeld, 1917, in Mecklenburg (ed.), Ergebnisse der Zweit. Deutschen Zentral-Afr.-Exped. 1910–1911, Zool.: 502; Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 229; Laurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 35.

Hemisus sudanenseSteindachner, 1864, Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, 14: 284. Cope, 1867, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Ser. 2, 6: 199; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 178; Sternfeld, 1917, in Mecklenburg (ed.), Ergebnisse der Zweit. Deutschen Zentral-Afr.-Exped. 1910–1911, Zool.: 502.

Hemisus marmoratusPeters, 1882, Naturwiss. Reise Mossambique, Zool. 3: 173; Loveridge, 1929, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 151: 122.

Hemisus taitanus Peters, 1882, Naturwiss. Reise Mossambique, Zool. 3: 175. Holotype: ZMB 9295, according to Bauer, Günther, and Robeck, 1996, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 72: 260. Type locality: "Taita (Ostafrica)" [= Teita, Kenya]. Synonymy by Noble, 1924, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 49: 280; Laurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 1-67.

Hemisus marmoratumBarboza du Bocage, 1895, Herpetol. Angola Congo: 183; Boulenger, 1907, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1907: 480.

Hemisus marmoratum marmoratumLoveridge, 1933, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 74: 388.

Hemisus marmoratus marmoratusLaurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 29.

Hemisus marmoratus ingeri Laurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 34. Holotype: MRAC 100848, by original designation. Type locality: "Mabwe, lake Upemba, Lower-Katanga, Congo [Dem. Rep. Congo]".

Hemisus marmoratus loveridgei Laurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 35. Holotype: MCZ 20518, by original designation. Type locality: "Malindi (Kenya)".

Hemisus marmoratus sudanensisLaurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 36.

Hemisus marmoratum — Laurent, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 110. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

English Names

Mottled Burrowing Frog (Wager, 1965, Frogs S. Afr.: 178; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 212; Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 118).

Mottled Shovel-nosed Frog (Broadley, 1973, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 10: 23; Passmore and Carruthers, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 19: 6; Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 212; Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 220).

Pig-nosed Frog (Passmore and Carruthers, 1979, S. Afr. Frogs: 212).

Shovel-nosed Burrowing Frog (Pienaar, 1963, Koedoe, 6: 80).

Marbled Shovel-nosed Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Marbled Shovel-snouted Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Marbled Pig-nosed Frog (Van Dijk, 1978, J. Herpetol. Assoc. Afr., 17: 16).

Marbled Shovelnose Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 51).

Marbled Snout-burrower (Channing, 2001, Amph. Cent. S. Afr.: 124; Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 127).

Mottled Shovel-nosed Frog (Hemisis marmoratus marmoratus: Lambiris, 1990 "1989", Monogr. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino, 10: 184).

Marbled Piglet Frog (Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 112). 

Distribution

Subsaharan Africa, excluding rainforest, from Senegal to Eritrea, western Ethiopia, and Somalia, and south into southern Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, and the northern and northeastern parts of Rep. South Africa; presumably to be found in Burundi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Togo. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Likely/Controversially Present: Burundi, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo

Comment

Laurent, 1972, Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent., Tervuren, Ser. Octavo, Sci. Zool., 194: 33–38, recognized three subspecies. See Poynton and Broadley, 1985, Ann. Natal Mus., 26: 529–532, for discussion of geographic variation in southern populations. Engystoma marmoratum Peters, 1854 is a junior primary homonym of Engystoma marmoratum Guerin-Meneville, 1838 (= Uperodon systoma). Rödel, 2000, Herpetofauna W. Afr., 1: 65–71, provided an account, as Hemisus marmoratus, and noted that the two subspecies, his Hemisus marmoratus marmoratus and Hemisus marmoratus sudanensis, might be distinct species. Gambia record provided by Barnett, Emms, and Santoni, 2001, Herpetol. Bull., London, 77: 8. Largen, 2001, Tropical Zool., 14: 360, commented on distribution (as Hemisus marmoratus). Channing and Howell, 2006, Amph. E. Afr.: 127–128, provided an account for East Africa. Padial and De la Riva, 2004, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 18: 96, suggested that this species will be found in southern Mauritania. Minter, 2004, in Minter et al. (eds.), Atlas Frogs S. Afr. Lesotho and Swaziland: 118–120, provided an account for South Africa and Swaziland. Du Preez and Carruthers, 2009, Compl. Guide Frogs S. Afr.: 220–221, provided an account for southern Africa. Schiøtz, 1963, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., 125: 50–51, provided records for Nigeria. Emms, Jambang, Bah, Mankali, Rödel, and Barnett, 2005, Herpetol. Bull., London, 94: 6–16, provided records for Gambia. Segniagbeto, Bowessidjaou, Dubois, and Ohler, 2007, Alytes, 24: 76, commented on records from Togo. Pickersgill, 2007, Frog Search: 67–71, provided an account. Onadeko and Rödel, 2009, Salamandra, 45: 1–14, regarded this taxon of uncertain distinctiveness compared with Hemisus guineensis and regarded both taxa to be part of a larger cryptic species complex. See account, photograph, and map for Ethiopia and Eritrea by Largen and Spawls, 2010, Amph. Rept. Ethiopia Eritrea: 102–103. Mercurio, 2011, Amph. Malawi: 136–137, provided an account for Malawi. Measey, Malonza, and Muchai, 2009, Amph. Taita Hills: 16–18, provided a very brief account and photo for the Taita Hills, Kenya. Channing, Rödel, and Channing, 2012, Tadpoles of Africa: 178–179, reported on comparative tadpole morphology. Harper, Measey, Patrick, Menegon, and Vonesh, 2010, Field Guide Amph. E. Arc Mts. Tanzania and Kenya: 160–161, provided a brief account and photograph. for the Eastern Arc Mountains region of Tanzania and Kenya. Ohler and Frétey, 2014, J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist., 103: 83–84, provided a brief discussion of specimens from northern Mozambique. Deichmann, Mulcahy, Vanthomme, Tobi, Wynn, Zimkus, and McDiarmid, 2017, PLoS One, 12 (11: e0187283): 17, provided molecular evidence for this being a species complex. Marques, Ceríaco, Blackburn, and Bauer, 2018, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 65 (Suppl. II): 83–84, provided a map for Angola and a brief account, noting the so-far unaddressed taxonomic uncertainties surrounding the nominal species. Phaka, Netherlands, Kruger, and Du Preez, 2017, Bilingual Field Guide Frogs Zululand: 36, 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): 6, for comments on systematics and ecology in western Zambia. Spawls, Wasonga, and Drewes, 2019, Amph. Kenya: 16, provided a range map for Kenya, photograph, and brief characterization. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 114–115, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Bittencourt-Silva, Bayliss, and Conradie, 2020, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 14 (2: e247): 198–271, reported the species from Mount Socone, Ile District, Zambezia Province, northeast-central Mozambique. Ayoro, Segniagbeto, Hema, Penner, Oueda, Dubois, Rödel, Kabré, and Ohler, 2020, Zoosystema, 42: 547–582, discussed records, identification, and habitat in Burkina Faso. Kanga, Kouamé, Zogbass, Gongomin, Agoh, Kouamé, Konan, Adepo-Gourène, Gourène, and Rödel, 2021, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 15: 71–107, commented on conservation status, identification, range, and habitat on the Ivory Coast side of Mont Nimba. Dehling and Sinsch, 2023, Diversity, 15 (512): 65, specifically excluded this species from the fauna of Rwanda.  

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