Aubria subsigillata (Duméril, 1856)

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta, Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago & De, Ignacio, 2020, Synopsis of the Amphibians of Equatorial Guinea based upon the Authors’ Field Work and Spanish Natural History Collections, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 66 (8), pp. 137-230 : 170

Aubria subsigillata (Duméril, 1856)

TYPE LOCALITY.— Gabon .

DISTRIBUTION.— This species is distributed in rainforests from southern Guinea and northern Liberia to Gabon. In Equatorial Guinea, it has been recorded from Río Muni at Cabo San Juan ( Boulenger 1903) and Benito River ( Boulenger 1900). There is also a record of this species from Bioko based on the specimen CAS 207956, tentatively idendified by Drewes et al. (1999) ( Map 25B ).

COMMENTS.— The specimens examined from Equatorial Guinea correspond to the longlegged form with the femoral glands half-way between knee and vent. These features correspond to A. subsigillata as stated by Ohler (1996), who also proved that A. occidentalis Perret, 1964 , is a junior synonym and that the short-legged form with femoral glands closer to knees should be considered as A. masako Ohler and Kazadi, 1990 . Rödel et al. (2005) provided a summary of the taxonomic history of A. masako and A. subsigillata , and suggested that the later might comprise more than one species. Members of this genus (currently comprising two morphologically distinct species, A. subsigillata and A. masako ) present a remarkable sexual dimorphism in which the secondary sexual characters characterize females (see Perret 1994): femoral glands are best developed in females, while they are smaller or absent in males. Drewes et al. (1999) suggest the possible presence of this species on Bioko based on a tentative identification of a single specimen, that is yet unconfirmed.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED.— Six specimens. Bata , Río Muni, 1966 (Nº 2694–2697); without data (B8715); Cabo San Juan, Río Muni ( MNCN 3872 ) .

Figures

MAPS 25A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Ptychadena aequiplicata; (B) Aubria subsigillata; (C) Amnirana albolabris.