Ptychadena taenioscelis Laurent, 1954

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L. & Harvey, James, 2023, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango- Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 3: Amphibians, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 325) 17 (1), pp. 19-56 : 46

Ptychadena taenioscelis Laurent, 1954

Small Ridged Frog ( Fig. 34; Map 33)

Material (39 specimens, 2 tadpole lots): PEM A12479– 81, Cuanavale River source lake, -13.08537° 18.89098°, 1,360 m asl; PEM A12492, Dala River, near Samanunga village, -12.93169° 18.81458°, 1,371 m asl; PEM A12523, Cuiva River source, -12.66825° 18.35282°, 1,407 m asl; PEM A11609, PEM A12562–69, INBAC (no number x 4), Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,431 m asl; PEM A12663, Campsite 2 near old Cuvango Mission, -13.33451° 16.41280°, 1,534 m asl; PEM A12760, INBAC: WC-4750, INBAC (no number), Cuando River source, -13.00346° 19.12751°, 1,353 m asl; PEM A12767–8, Cuando River source trap 1, -13.00393° 19.12808°, 1,351 m asl; PEM A12783–4, INBAC: WC-4600, Quembo River trap 1, -13.13592° 19.04417°, 1,369 m asl; PEM A12837, 31 km W of Menongue, Cueli River, -14.70511° 17.38014°, 1,392 m asl; PEM A12897–8, INBAC (no number), Quembo River source lake, -13.13624° 19.04591°, 1,367 m asl; PEM A13813, Lake Tchanssengwe, -12.41403° 18.64418°, 1,393 m asl; PEM A13820, en route to Cuemba Village, -11.96587° 17.76176°, 1,302 m asl; PEM A14092 (tadpoles), series of pans south of Tempué, -13.55719° 18.85519°, 1,315 m asl; PEM A14122 (tadpoles), Calua River source, 6 km SE of Cuito River source, -12.73675° 18.39310°, 1,446 m asl; PEM A14691, Lungwebungu River camp, first oxbow on right side, -12.58117° 18.67106°, 1,294 m asl; PEM A14813– 6, INBAC: WC-7009, Luio River camp floodplains, -13.19711° 20.22194°, 1,181 m asl. Additional material (2 specimens, 1 tadpole lot): SAIAB 204572 (2 specimens), Samaununga village, -12.93228° 18.81672°, 1,364 m asl; SAIAB 209102 (12 tadpoles), Calua lagoon, -12.73599° 18.39394°, 1,448 m asl. Description: Small Ptychadena ; subarticular tubercles weakly developed; thin inner metatarsal tubercle; outer metatarsal tubercle absent or much reduced; three phalanges of longest toe free of webbing. Dorsum dark, with scattered black spots; broad vertebral band often present; white line above lip, from tip of snout to insertion of arm; bright green patch between eye and lip; dorsolateral ridge white; back of thighs with one continuous black stripe below vent from knee to knee; soles of feet, toes, forearms, and legs black; light line present on dorsal tibia; throat with scattered black spots; ventrum immaculate. Adult females (n = 21) varied from 21.5–33.2 (27.4) mm (largest female: PEM A12523); adult males (n = 9) varied from 23.1– 28.2 (26.5) mm (largest male: PEM A13813). Habitat and natural history notes: Found along river margins and floodplains. Comments: The close morphological relationship between P. pumilio and P. taenioscelis has been discussed in the past, and no clear concensus has yet been reached ( Perret 1979; Poynton and Broadley 1987), although the former is mostly restricted to West Africa and the latter to Southern Africa ( Channing and Rödel 2019). Bittencourt-Silva (2019) alludes to the close genetic relationship between P. pumilio and this species. Additional investigation is needed to validate its taxonomic status.