Hyperolius glandicolor Peters, 1878

Channing, Alan, 2022, Colour patterns to sequences: a perspective on the systematics of the Hyperolius viridiflavus group (Anura: Hyperoliidae) using mitochondrial DNA, Zootaxa 5134 (3), pp. 301-354 : 336-337

Hyperolius glandicolor Peters, 1878

Hyperolius glandicolor Peters, 1878 . ZMB 9299 , ZMB 77768, Taita, Kenya. Brown to yellow background, covered densely with very small dark dots.

Hyperolius striolatus Peters, 1882 . ZMB 9300 , Taita, Kenya. Synonymy by Laurent (1961). Above rust coloured with black dots and stripes

Megalixalus pantherinus Steindachner, 1891 . NHMW 3734 , “Leikipia” (Laikipia), Kenya. Synonymy by Wieczorek et al. (2000). Yellow with panther-like black markings on the back and behind the head.

Rappia Ferniquei Mocquard, 1902 . MNHNP 1902.184, “de la rivière Atchi, l’altitude de 1,450 mètres” Athi River, Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Beige-grey above with a slight brown tint from the nostril to the arm, many dark speckles over the dorsal surface and limbs.

Rappia symetrica Mocquard, 1902 . MNHNP 1924.30–34. “de la rivière Atchi, l’altitude de 1,450 mètres” Athi River, Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Above a very pale brown, with a black T shaped mark between the eyes. Many speckles along the midline. A dark band from the nostril, over the eye to the arm. A second mark, sometimes paired, extends obliquely towards the vent. These marks become gradually pink towards the ventral surface. A third irregular mark over the vent, edged with white.

Rappia platyrhinus Procter, 1920 . BMNH 1947.2.9.46, “Nairobi”, Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). “Uniformly brownish-grey above, finely speckled with black pigment cells which are slightly concentrated along canthus rostralis” (Proctor 1920).

Hyperolius albolabris Ahl, 1931 . ZMB 58748, “Kwa Buosch in Süd Kavirondo”, south-western Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Above pale pink, with numerous dark pink or violet-brown flecks and stripes, usually arranged longitudinally, and with indistinct margins. A wide white stripe above the upper lip, extending back to the flank, and separating the colour of the upper and lower surfaces.

Hyperolius asper Ahl, 1931 . ZMB 4807, Nairobi, Kenya. Placed in the synonymy of H. glandicolor by Wieczorek et al. (2000). Colour in alcohol: Pale grey above and on the sides of the head, covered with many very small spots resembling a spray of ink.

Hyperolius bergeri Ahl, 1931 . ZMB but type not found ( Tillack et al. 2021). “Guaso Narok (Englisch-Ostafrika)” Uaso Narok, Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Colour in alcohol: Above pale yellow-green, with distinct blue marbling on the back and tibia. Upper thigh dark brown (red in life?) with a thin yellow-green longitudinal stripe.

Hyperolius coeruleopunctatus Ahl, 1931 . ZMB 36115, “Nairobi”, Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Colour in alcohol: Above pale grey, with many small, round blue-black dots (bright blue in life), resembling sprayed ink.

Hyperolius pulchromarmoratus Ahl, 1931 . ZMB 77751, “ Britisch-Ostafrika ” ( Kenya). Locality obscure. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Colour in alcohol: Above pale yellow on back, head, and upper surfaces of limbs, with thin sulfur-yellow and blue marbling. In between irregular large, dark brown markings of different sizes.

Hyperolius scheffleri Ahl, 1931 . ZMB 85759, “Kibwezi, Britisch-Ostafrika ” Kenya. Synonymy with H. marmoratus striolatus by Laurent (1952). Colour in alcohol: Above uniform pale yellow. Thigh dark, probably red in life.

Hyperolius marmoratus ommatostictus Laurent, 1951 . MNHNP 1912.383 “Kibonoto, Kilimandjaro ” ( Kibongoto ), Tanzania. Synonymy by Wieczorek et al. (2000). Colour in alcohol: The back pattern consists of round dark brown eye-shaped markings, with a red-brown centre surrounded by a pale zone.

Hyperolius marmoratus campylogrammus Laurent, 1951 . MNHNP 1924.28, “Bura, alt 1050 m ” (Taita Hills). The H. marmoratus clade does not occur as far north as Kenya. The type occurs close to sequenced material of H. glandicolor from Taita. A transverse band between the eyes, with three longitudinal bands, the lateral bands curved inwards. Often lumbar spots present. Males with uniform backs.

Hyperolius viridiflavus pitmani Laurent, 1952 . Type unknown, “Lac Bunyoni”, Uganda. Synonymy by Wieczorek et al. (2000). Back with many small yellow spots.

Hyperolius sheldricki Duff-MacKay and Schiøtz, 1971. NMK A/366/3, “north of Aruba Dam, Tsavo National Park (East) 3° 19’ S, 30° 54’ E ”, Kenya. It is a typical member of the H. viridiflavus group ( Duff-MacKay and Schiøtz 1971). Sequences from material collected in the field as H. sheldricki are embedded in the clade identified as H. glandicolor . The back is light brown, with two dark brown stripes along the midline, joined over the snout. Other thin dark brown lines run from the eye back to the flank, and a pair of interrupted dorso-lateral lines, in places with a pale centre.

Hyperolius viridiflavus ngorongoriensis Schiøtz, 1975 . ZMUC R079324, Ngorongoro Crater Rim, Tanzania. Synonymy by Wieczorek et al. (2000). Dark brown stripes on a light brown background. Dark spots scattered evenly on the back and upper surfaces of the limbs. Ventral surface of femur and tibia maroon in life, pink in alcohol.

Hyperolius orkarkarri Drewes, 1997 . CAS 186087 , “ Tanzania: Mara Region: Serengeti Dist: Serengeti National Park: Moru Kopjes , on Gong Rock. 02° 43.05 S; 34° 47.6 E at an elevation of 1585 m.” Synonymy by Channing & Howell (2006). Back grey, with a broad white vertebral band. This is interrupted by a dark triangle between the eyes, pointing backwards, and three pairs of lateral extensions, one from the scapular region to the eye, a second medio-dorsal saddle, and a posterior pair from the pelvic region.

Hyperolius goetzei Ahl, 1931 was removed from the synonymy of H. glandicolor and elevated to a full species below.

This clade consists of 20 sequences from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. The minimum uncorrected pdistances from other clades were 2.8–5.9% ( Table 2 ). The sequences were reported in GenBank as Hyperolius glandicolor , H. goetzei , H. viridiflavus , H. v. ferniquei , H. v. glandicolor , H. v. ngorongoriensis , H. v. pantherinus , and H. v. pitmani .

This clade occurs in Rwanda, Uganda, northern Tanzania and southern Kenya ( Fig. 8B ). The clade distribution closely matches the distribution of types that are regarded as junior synonyms, and sequences occur at the type locality. The localities of the type and taxa now regarded as junior synonyms of H. glandicolor are listed in Table 3 .

The most common pattern element in the descriptions of the types included in H. glandicolor is dorsal marbling (39%), followed by speckle or small spots that may be black or blue (33%). The percentages are not additive, as the pattern elements may be shared.

An advertisement call from Kakoneni, Kenya (no voucher) shows individual notes with a length of about 0.1 s, and an emphasised frequency of 2800–3150 Hz ( Schiøtz 1975, 1999, as H. sheldricki ). A call from Arusha National Park in Tanzania (no voucher) shows brief whistles with frequency modulation, with a mean emphasised frequency of 2200 Hz ( Schiøtz 1975). This is similar to calls from Kisessa, Tanzania (no vouchers), as H. goetzei ; Arusha, Tanzania, as H. ommatostictus and Lake Naivasha, Kenya, as H. ferniquei ; Nyahuru, Kenya, as H. pantherinus ( Pickersgill, 2007) . An advertisement call consisting of a brief note with an emphasised frequency of 1950 Hz was recorded at Lake Bunyoni, Uganda (no voucher), as H. v. pitmani and at Kabale, Uganda (no voucher) as H. pitmani ( Pickersgill 2007) . This is similar to calls from Mwanza (no vouchers) in Tanzania that have an emphasised frequency of 2800 Hz ( Schiøtz 1975, 1999, Pickersgill 2007, as H. mwanzae ) and Kisiizi, Uganda (no vouchers) ( Pickersgill 2007, as H. variabilis ).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Localities of sequences (black circles), type localities (stars) and location of junior synonyms of Hyperolius nitidulus (A), H. mariae (B) and H. sp 1 (C). Locality codes are explained in Table 3.