AW Amphibian Book: Frogs & Toads (Anura)

[Flutterby]

Western Leopard Toad Amietophrynus pantherinus
Family: Bufonidae



Description
These toads can reach the impressive size of about 14 cm in body length and can live up to 13 years. They have a rough skin which has a pattern of chocolate to reddish-brown patches with a bright yellow or black edging, on a pink or grey background usually a yellow stripe running the length of the back between the patches. The underside is granular and cream coloured, with a darker throat in males. The eyes are relatively large with horizontally elliptical pupils.

Distribution
Two macro-populations exist, broadly referred to as the Cape Town and Overberg clusters. Its natural foraging habitats is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, falling within several vegetation types including Cape Flats Sand Plain Fynbos and Cape Flats Dune Strandveld.

Habitat
The species is not restricted to pristine habitat as much of its historical feeding grounds currently fall under residential suburbs, hence leopard toads are often found living in suburban gardens. Breeding habitat includes swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, urban riverine watercourses, natural ponds and garden ponds.

Reproduction
Breeding occurs mainly in August when the toads return to their native wetland ponds to breed. Breeding depends mainly on rainfall and temperature. The female deposits thousands of eggs in a string of jelly. Metamorphosis takes more than 10 weeks from a toadlet/tadpole to a toad and it takes 1 to 3 years to reach maturity for males and 2 to 6 years for females.

Behaviour
They are not great swimmers as their feet are not as webbed as frogs feet. They spend most of their time away from water but do have to live fairly close to wetlands for breeding. They eats snails, bugs, beetles, earthworms and caterpillars. They generally call at night and tend to call in choruses of up to 50 toads

Conservation status
The Western Leopard Toad is classified according to the IUCN Red List as an Endangered species. This is based on: its restricted distribution and habitat, habitat that is severely fragmented; and a continuing decline in the extent of distribution, area and quality of habitat, and the number of locations/populations and mature individuals.

Volunteers thus play a critical role in conservation efforts for the species. These volunteers are mainly involved during breeding season migrations, which fall between late July and early September, timed with the arrival of the first post-winter warm weather. It is at this time when the highest number of individuals are threatened, as individuals cross busy roads to and from local breeding habitat. Large-scale efforts across the distribution incur over nights during this time to move toads over roads, collect data and flag down motorists. Since March 2011 road signs have also been placed at ten of these crossings to alert motorists. It is envisaged that the signs would encourage motorists to slow down and take heed of the amphibians, especially at night.

Links: Vincent Carruthers: Frogs and Frogging in Southern Africa
http://www.africanpenguin.co.za/toadfacts.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_leopard_toad
FrogMAP Species text: http://frogmap.adu.org.za/Species_text.php?sp=345

[Toko]

Common River Frog Amietia delalandi (Gewone Graspadda)
Family: Pyxicephalidae

© Joan
Kruger National Park, Pretoriuskop area

Description
This is a large frog (up to 90 mm long) with long legs. Its brown and greenish blotched appearance blends in well with both mud and vegetation.
The dorsal color and markings are variable, usually browns, greens and yellows, sometimes with darker marks, often with a stripe down the spine. Viewed from above, the eyes bulge beyond the outline of the head. White below, often with mottling on the throat.
Dorsal texture is also variable, from smooth to ridged. The tympanum is visible and slightly larger than ½ the diameter of the eye. A fold of skin curves from the eye to the arm over the tympanum. Toes are webbed, usually with only the last section of the longest toe free of webbing, but webbing is variable among populations.

Distribution
This widespread species is known from Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Lesotho from 200–1500 m.

distribution.jpg (31.75 KiB) Viewed 2853 times

Habitat
Permanent water surrounded by dense herbaceous vegetation, in grassland, forests, savannah and agricultural land. It prefers shallow water, including ponds, grassland streams and rivers, and breeds in still water and on the edges of streams.

Reproduction
Breeding takes place in shallow water along the edges of pools, dams, streams and slow-flowing rivers. Pairs of frogs lay single eggs in small still areas in streams from October to April. Clutches of 400–500 eggs are laid in shallow water in ponds on the edges of streams in forest and in open areas.

Call
Males call from the water’s edge, often partially submerged. Two different calls, usually emitted in succession, consist of a sharp rattle and a brief croak, kikikikik-kereoow.
http://www.frogbook.co.za/frog-calls.php (no 121)


Links:
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/113263541/113263686
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... 9/download
Seasonal migration and reproductive behaviour of the
Common River Frog (Amietia quecketti)

[Toko]

Snoring Puddle Frog, Natal Dwarf Puddle Frog Phrynobatrachus natalensis (Snorkmodderpadda)
Family: Petropeditidae

© Flutterby
Kruger National Park, Lower Sabie

Description
Phrynobatrachus natalensis is a medium to large sized puddle frog (SVL < 40 mm) with variable dorsal coloration and patterns, but most often brown with a light vertebral stripe. Above often mottled with several wart-like elevations. Belly whitish. Horizontal pupils. Males have a vocal sac folded into creases on either side of the jaws. The tympanum is visible and larger than ½ the diameter of the eye. Toes are webbed for almost half their length. Finger tips lack disks or distinct swelling.

Distribution
This species ranges very widely in the savannah zone of Africa, from Senegal and Gambia, east to Ethiopia and Eritrea, south to Angola, northeastern Namibia, northern Botswana, Eastern Cape Province, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West Province of South Africa and Lesotho.

Taxonomic Notes
The variation in clutch size, tadpole morphology, size of the adult frog and period of activity, suggests that this taxon almost certainly consists of a number of cryptic species (Rödel 2000).

Habitat
Phrynobatrachus natalensis is typically associated with herbaceous vegetation along the margins of shallow marshes, lakes, rivers, streams and pools, both permanent and temporary. It inhabits a variety of vegetation types in the savanna and grassland biomes where summer rainfall is >500 mm, although some populations along the western edge of the species’ range are found in drier areas. The polymorphic colour pattern may be a means of protection against predators, and specific patterns have been correlated with particular habitats.
Breeding takes place in shallow to fairly deep water in temporary pans and pools, vleis, dams and even small, slow-flowing streams. Breeding sites usually have vegetation or other types of cover along their banks. It is tolerant of human disturbance and is often found near human habitation.

Diet
The Natal dwarf puddle frog feeds on a variety of invertebrates including beetles, termites, bugs, flies, cockroaches, grasshoppers, butterflies and spiders.

Reproduction
Breeding begins in spring after the first rains and continues to late summer. Males usually call from concealed sites and may be heard throughout the day and night in wet weather. Aggressive encounters between males are commonplace. Mating pairs swim while depositing the small eggs in a single-layered plate that floats at the surface. The eggs hatch about four days later. The tadpoles take about four to five weeks to develop to metamorphosis.

Call
A rapidly repeated nasal snoring once or twice per second.

Links: Vincent Carruthers: Frogs and Frogging in Southern Africa

[Toko]

Eastern Olive Toad Sclerophrys garmani, Amietophrynus garmani, Bufo garmani (Olyfskurwepadda)
Family: Bufonidae

© PJL
Satara camp. Kruger National Park

© BluTuna
Balule camp. Kruger National Park

Diagnostic Description
A large toad with long, distinct parotid glands. The tympanum is visible. Toes are webbed only slightly at the base. The back is warty and light brown with paired, regular darker square patches. Some of the markings may have a reddish tinge. Occasionally there is a thin line down the spine. Patches behind the eyes are not fused into a bar as in the Raucous Toad. No patches on the snout. Wite below with granular skin. Male has a darl throat. Red colouring on the inner legs.
Similar species: A. garmani can be confused with A. maculatus, A. xeros and A. gutturalis. Juveniles of all members of this genus are difficult to distinguish. A. garmani lacks the light cross on the head or light band between the eyes that is typically seen in A. maculatus, and A. xeros. A. garmani also lacks dark markings on the snout in contrast to many other Amietophrynus species.



Size
Up to 10 cm. Males usually measure 63-72 mm and females 55-74 mm in snout-vent length.

Distribution
A. garmani has a wide distribution in the eastern savannas of Africa, ranging from Somalia in the north to South Africa in the south. It occurs in northern KwaZulu-Natal and extends to the northwest through the lowveld of Swaziland, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, and westward along the Limpopo River valley.
Some confusion exists as to the western limit of the distribution of A. garmani, as it is difficult to distinguish this species from the morphologically similar A. poweri (Western Olive Toad). While the advertisement call of A. garmani has a relatively slower pulse rate and shorter duration than that of A. poweri, this can be determined only by sonagraphic analysis.


Distribution records for these two species A. garmani and A. poweri have been combined and are presented here in a single map.

Habitat
This species inhabits various bushveld vegetation types in the Savanna Biome and seems to prefer well-wooded, low-lying areas with high daytime temperatures. During the day, individuals may be found under fallen logs, rocks and mats of vegetation, or beneath any object that provides shelter around houses. In northern Kruger National Park, specimens have been found in abandoned termitaria.
Breeding usually occurs in small, shallow, temporary water bodies, but occasionally the quiet backwaters of rivers and pools along small, slow-flowing streams are used. They also breed in artificial water bodies such as farm dams and ornamental ponds around homesteads. In the urban environment, A. garmani is less common than A. gutturalis.

Diet
Their prey includes beetles, termites, moths, insect larvae and other small invertebrates. After rain, when alate termites emerge, these toads congregate around the openings of termitaria where they gorge themselves on alates.

Predators
The eggs of are eaten by the Serrated Hinged Terrapin Pelusios sinuatus, Müller’s Platanna Xenopus muelleri, and by their own tadpoles, while the adult frogs are taken by young crocodiles. Other predators include various small carnivores, snakes and birds.

Reproduction
Most breeding takes place during spring and summer, continuing into January and occasionally February. Breeding commences after the first substantial spring rains, or earlier if artificial water bodies such as garden ponds are available.
Males call from the edges of water bodies, often forming small choruses. They exhibit call-site fidelity, returning to the same site even when removed and released a considerable distance away. Amplexus is axillary, and displacement of amplexing males is frequent, with 'knots' of several males and a single female forming at times. Eggs are laid in double strands containing up to 12 000–20 000 eggs. The eggs hatch within 24 hours; metamorphosis takes place after 64 days. Tadpoles assume a lighter or darker colouring to match the substrate.

Call
A loud bray of about a third of a second, emitted once a second. The call is described as a loud kwaak.

Status
IUCN (Red List) status: Least Concern (LC).

Links: FrogMAP Species text; AFRICAN AMPHIBIANS LIFEDESK; Vincent Carruthers: Frogs and Frogging in Southern Africa

[Lisbeth]

Common Reed Frog Hypreolius broadleyi

© Dindingwe
Gletwyn Dam - Harare - Zimbabwe

[okie]

Gray's Stream Frog, Clicking Stream Frog Strongylopus grayii
Family: Pyxicephalidae

Found this frog in the dog's drinking bucket. How it got in there is a mystery

Key ID points
• Eyes: large; pupil horizontal.
• Four phalanges of the longest toe have no webbing.
• Snout not sharply pointed.
• Dark spots on the back are common regardless of variable skin colour.

Description
Maximum size: 50 mm.
Colour: Varies from light- to dark-brown with dark markings scattered on the body. Thin, pale vertebral line or broad, pale to reddish-brown vertebral band is sometimes visible. A dark facial mask extends from the snout, through the eye and tympanum, to the forearm. A white line extends from below the nostril, under the eye and tympanum, to the base of the forearm.
Body: Streamlined and slender with long hind legs and pointed snout. Tympanum visible. The skin on the back is slightly granular and has elevated ridges. The underside feels smooth and has an off-white colour.
Forearms: Long, slender fingers without webbing or terminal discs.
Hind legs: Long, slender toes with minimal webbing and no terminal discs. Fourth finger reaches forearm when in sitting position, but does not pass it.
Sexual dimorphism: Males have gold pigmentation on the lower jaw.

Call
A short and hollow tapping sound.

Distribution

Distribution.jpg (10.27 KiB) Viewed 3590 times

Links:
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58767/3073333

[Klipspringer]

Giant Bullfrog Pyxicephalus adspersus
Family: Pyxicephalida


Kgalagadi, Lijersdraai © GavinW

Giant Bullfrog.jpg (89.54 KiB) Viewed 2885 times

Kgalagadi © Michele Nel


Description
P. adspersus is the largest amphibian found in southern Africa. In Gauteng, males reach a snout-vent length of 245 mm and a mass of 1.4 kg, but in Eastern Cape and Free State provinces, they seldom exceed 140 mm. In contrast to most other frogs, males are larger than females. The head is very broad. Two large bony spines, separated by a smaller spine, project upwards from the lower jaw. Several prominent, interrupted skin ridges are present on the back. Spade-like inner metatarsal tubercles are present on the heels, and are used for digging.
In adults the dorsum is dark olive-green, but may vary from brown to grey and even blue; short sections of the longitudinal skin ridges may be white or cream. In juveniles, a pale vertebral stripe is often present, contrasting sharply with the bright green ground colour. The abdomen is white to creamy-yellow, except in the region of the forelimbs where it is bright yellow in breeding males. Dark mottling may be present in the gular region of males.

Distribution
This species occurs widely in South Africa (in the northeastern part of the Western Cape, central and southern Eastern Cape, northern, central and eastern parts of Northern Cape, northern KwaZulu-Natal except the low-lying parts, Free State, North West, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces, and at only a few localities in Mpumalanga Province), Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, extending north to southern Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya.

Habitat
It is a species of drier savannahs. It is fossorial for most of the year, remaining buried in cocoons. They emerge at the start of the rains, and breed in shallow, temporary waters in pools, pans and ditches. They are active by day during the breeding season. They can tolerate habitat alteration, but not urbanization.

Reproduction
The adults are fossorial, emerging from their burrows only during the breeding season. After heavy rain they congregate in large numbers at breeding sites. Successful breeding depends on the establishment of ephemeral pools large enough to hold water for at least 30 days. Continuous light rain does not seem to prompt emergence of the frogs, but when a downpour of at least 30 mm follows, within a few days, the first light spring rains, they emerge and move to their breeding sites.
P. adspersus is an explosive breeder, finding a mate and laying eggs within 48 hours. Spawning takes place during daylight, usually the morning after a heavy rainstorm. Adult males exhibit three size-related mating strategies, namely territorial, non-territorial (breeding arena) and satellite behaviour.
Territorial males are larger than non-territorial males, and are site faithful, vigorously defending their territories against intruding males. Males jump at each other with open mouths, and when a male takes hold of the leg or arm of another he will often flip the opponent into the air. One battle, in which a male tried to flip another onto its back, continued for more than 40 minutes. Males often bear battle scars, sometimes even losing an eye or dying from punctured lungs.
Non-territorial males gather in a breeding arena or lek where males fight amongst themselves for favourable positions in the centre of the lek. Females maintain a low profile as they approach the arena, with barely more than their eyes projecting above the water’s surface. The moment a female is spotted, she is intercepted by the closest male. Sometimes an approaching female dives while she is some distance from the arena and surfaces amongst the males where she is clasped by one of the larger males. Amplexus displacement, in which a second male displaces an amplexing male, is frequently observed in groups of non-territorial males.
The smaller adult satellite males are unable to defend a territory or fight for a place in the non-territorial breeding arena; instead they remain in close proximity to a territorial male, attempting to intercept females attracted to the territorial male.
Amplexus takes place in water 2–4 cm deep and lasts for an average of 15 minutes. Oviposition usually occurs between 08:00 and 12:00, but may continue until 18:00. When spawning, the male pushes the female’s head underwater and she raises her cloaca above the water; thus the eggs are fertilized before entering the water. A spent female prompts the male to release her by shaking her head from side to side, and then moves away into deeper water.
Eggs numbering 3000–4000 are scattered in shallow water. Eggs are 1.1–1.3 mm in diameter, inside 4-mm capsules. Small black tadpoles emerge from the capsules after 36 hours, and gather in schools. Over the next two days, schools fuse, creating larger schools until all the tadpoles form a single school. The tadpoles tend to congregate in shallow, warm water where they feed on algae, and complete metamorphosis 18–33 days later (Channing 2001).

Behaviour
Adults spend dry periods in burrows, usually at depths of 0.5–1 m, depending on the type and humidity of the soil. For example, one male was found at a depth of 10 cm in clay, while others in sandy soil were found at a depth of 1.2 m. Adults sometimes excavate old crab holes to form their burrows. After excavating the burrow, the frog sheds several layers of skin to form a cocoon that insulates it from the external environment, with which contact is maintained via the nostrils.
P. adspersus feeds on a variety of prey items including small birds, rats, snakes, lizards, insects, scorpions, crabs, slugs and other frogs. Branch (1976) reported that two adult bullfrogs had ingested no less than 17 newly born Rinkhals, a venomous snake species. They have been observed attacking drinking birds such as Laughing Doves and Blacksmith Plovers. The species exhibits cannibalism in the adult, juvenile and even tadpole stages.

Call
The advertisement call is a long, low frequency “whoop”, 1–2 s in duration and with an emphasized frequency of 200–250 Hz. By contrast, the call of P. edulis is much shorter (0.19–0.22 s in duration) with a modulated frequency that begins at c. 250 Hz and rises to 450–600 Hz in the middle of the call.
http://www.frogbook.co.za/frog-calls.php (no 154)

© nan
Etosha NP, Namibia

Links:
FrogMAP Species text
EWT Booklet
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58535/3070700

[Klipspringer]

Common Rain Frog, Bushveld Rain Frog Breviceps adspersus
Family: Brevicipitidae



Kruger National Park © PJL

KEY ID POINTS
• Occurs in the savanna biome
• Facial mask prominent
• Underside smooth, white and unmarked
• Outer toe is as long as it is wide
• Basal subarticular tubercle on hand single
• Eyes small
• Webbing absent

Description
Maximum size: 60 mm.
Body: stout with short legs; head short.
Above: colour pattern variable but usually includes paired light, yellowish or orange patches on a brown background; dark spots or blotches; pale vertebral line sometimes present; black facial band from eye to the armpit, usually separated from the dark gular patch by a light line; skin granular.
Tympanum: usually not visible.
Underside: unmarked, except for a few dark spots occasionally; smooth.
Forelimbs: palmar tubercles moderately to well developed; basal subarticular tubercles single.
Hindlimbs: no webbing between toes; inner and outer toes as long as they are wide; inner metatarsal tubercle large and flanged.
Sexual dimorphism: male throat darkly mottled or uniformly black, often divided in the middle by a white stripe.

Distribution
This species ranges from northwestern Angola, through northern Namibia, southwestern Zambia, much of Botswana and Zimbabwe, to southern Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa as far south as Eastern Cape Province.

Habitat
It is a species of dry savannah woodland and bush land, also occurring in agricultural areas and towns. It avoids montane grassland and forest. It breeds by direct development, and is not associated with water.

Reproduction
In spring or early summer, following heavy rain, males emerge from the soil and establish call sites 5–200 cm from their winter retreats. The call site usually consists of a well-concealed shallow depression, about the depth of the frog’s body, at the base of a grass tuft or small herbaceous plant. In overcast, damp conditions, calling may continue unchecked for several days and nights. Males are prompted to call by the calls of their immediate neighbours, and this results in bouts of calling which spread through the population in waves. When hot, dry weather returns, or when disturbed, males retreat to their underground burrows. Males were observed to use the same call site for up to five consecutive nights.
Amplexus is facilitated by a sticky skin secretion which ensures that the male remains attached to the female during nest construction. A mass of about 45 eggs, covered by a smaller mass of fluid-filled jelly capsules lacking yolk, is deposited in a chamber about 30 cm below the surface. The female remains nearby until the froglets are ready to leave the nest (approximately six weeks). The reason for her presence has not been established.

Behaviour
The dry season is spent 15–30 cm below the surface, often in situations where soil moisture is conserved, for example, next to or under rocks, logs, stumps or tree roots.

Call
Their calls are a series of short chirrups, which combine into a continuous chorus on grassland slopes in early summer (October - December), particularly in mornings, at sunset or on misty days.
http://www.frogbook.co.za/frog-calls.php (no 12 & 13)


Links:
FrogMAP Species text
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/57712/3061969
https://books.google.de/books?id=AQ5bDw ... us&f=false

[Klipspringer]

Sand Frogs (Tomopterna spp.)
Family: Pyxicephalidae

Genus Tomopterna
Medium-sized, robust-bodied, burrowing frogs that have a toad-like appearance, but lack paratoid glands.
Widely distributed throuout Southern Africa.

Species recorded in South Africa:
Tomopterna cryptotis, T. delalandii, T. krugerensis, T. marmorata, T. natalensis, T. tandyi.

To date, 15 species have been described in the genus Tomopterna. This number is likely to increase. Given its very large range, T. cryptotis is probably more than one species. In appearance, it is virtually identical to T. tandyi and T. delalandii. These three species occur in southern Africa and can be identified reliably only by their distinctive calls.

http://speciesstatus.sanbi.org/taxa/lineage/983/

[Klipspringer]

Tremolo Sand Frog, Cryptic Sand Frog Tomopterna cryptotis
Family: Pyxicephalidae

© leachy
Kruger National Park, H1-7 near Boyela, March 2020

Key ID points
• Eyes: large; pupil horizontal.
• Skin on the back has warts.
• First finger has single subarticular tubercle.
• Pale patch between the forearms, on the vertebral line.
• Glandular skin ridge below the tympanum is not continuous from the eye to the forearm.
• Prominent, curved metatarsal tubercle used for digging.

Description
Maximum size: 51 mm.
Colour: Varies between brown and green with dark markings. Pale vertebral line often present along with pale line extending from behind eye to groin region. Pale, granular skin ridge under tympanum.
Body: Appearance resembles a toad; stout with broad head and rounded snout. Tympanum partially obscured. The skin on the back has warts that mostly have pale tips. The underside feels smooth and has a white colour.
Forearms: Fingers without webbing or terminal discs.
Hind legs: Toes with reduced webbing and no terminal discs.
Sexual dimorphism: Males have dark pigmentation along the jaw.

Call
A series of high-pitched metallic ki-ki-ki-ki sounds repeated in quick succession.


Distribution
T. cryptotis appears to be distributed from Angola through Zambia to Malawi, and southward through Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the subregion. In South Africa and Eswatini, T. cryptotis is known from the inland plateau and the dry interior regions.

Distribution.jpg (10.25 KiB) Viewed 3596 times

Habitat
This species inhabits various vegetation types in the Savanna and Grassland biomes. Breeding takes place in shallow, standing water at the edges of dams, pans, and even small bodies of water such as roadside puddles.

Life history
Individuals burrow into sandy soils or dry river beds during the dry season and, in the breeding season, may retreat into termite mounds during the day.
Breeding begins after the first spring rains and choruses may be heard throughout the rainy season after showers. Males call from exposed positions near the water’s edge, but are well concealed by their cryptic colouration.
About 2000–3000 eggs are laid singly in shallow water. Tadpoles reach 39 mm in length and larval development takes about five weeks.


Links:
http://frogmap.adu.org.za/Species_text.php?sp=990