Xenopus tropicalis (Gray, 1864)

Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoudé, Ohler, Annemarie, Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Luiselli, Luca & Dubois, Alain, 2024, Amphibians of Togo: taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zoosystema 46 (25), pp. 631-670 : 655

Xenopus tropicalis (Gray, 1864)

( Fig. 12C )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Togo • 4 ♀; Agoté; MNHN-RA-2006.2172-2175.

DESCRIPTION. — Medium to large frog (SVL 40-56 mm ♀), with flattened body. Snout rounded. Head very small, wider than long (HW 26-29% SVL; HL 21-26% SVL). Very small eyes and eyelids (EL 1.4-1.6 mm diameter); a very small subocular tentacle, about one third of eye dimeter. Tympanum indistinct. Hind leg rather short (TL 36-50% SVL). Webbing complete, no free phalanges. Four horny claws, three at the toes I, II, III and one covering the metatarsal tubercle. Skin smooth, lateral line system with 18-20 tubercles from eyelid to rear part of flanks, also on neck region and border of lower jaw; belly smooth.

COLOURATION. — The dorsal colouration is dark brown or black depending on the habitat. The dorsal part of forearm, thigh and tibia is also dark. The belly is lighter.

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM. — Differences between males and females are little marked ( Arnoult & Lamotte 1968). Males are thinner and smaller than females, the outer sides of their fingers carry black nuptial pads and their dermal lobes above vent are larger than in females. The head is narrower in males than in females.

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — Xenopus tropicalis is a forest species that enters the savannah zone along gallery forests ( Rödel 2000). It is most frequent in the ecological zone IV (Kpélé and Badou regions). It lives in ponds or abandoned wells where it hides in the mud during the dry season. It is widespread in humid forests and savannahs with forest areas or forest galleries in Kpélé and Akposso. Fifty-nine specimens of this species were collected by Bourgat (1979) in Kandé (Kanté), Lamakara (Kara), Niamtougou, Sotougoua (Sotouboua), Badou and Klouto. The occurrence of this species in the ecological zones I, II, III and IV is known from these specimens.

Figures

FIG. 12. — Representatives of anuran species from Togo in life: A, Phrynomantis microps Peters, 1875 (Tsévié); B, Xenopus fischbergi Evans, Carter, Greenbaum, Gvoždík,Kelley,McLaughlin, Pauwels,Portik, Stanley, Tinsley,Tobias & Blackburn, 2015 (Siou);C, Xenopus tropicalis (Gray, 1864) (Agoté); D, Ptychadena bibroni (Hallowell, 1845) (Kovié); E, Ptychadena mascareniensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) (Kovié); F, Ptychadena oxyrhynchus (Smith, 1849) (Tchamba),