Ptychadena oxyrhynchus ( Smith, 1849 )

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 : 45

Ptychadena oxyrhynchus ( Smith, 1849)

Sharp-nosed Ridged Frog ( Fig. 32 ; Map 30 )

Material (6 specimens): PEM A12628, roadside ditch 10 km SW of Cuito town, -12.44815° 16.88118°, 1,742 m asl; PEM A12667, Campsite 1 below Cubango River rapids, west of Fundo village, -13.04483° 16.37520°, 1,585 m asl; PEM A12835–6, 31 km W of Menongue, Cueli River, -14.70511° 17.38014°, 1,392 m asl; PEM A14830, camp at side tributary (Luandai River) of the Luanguinga River, -13.70885° 21.26234°, 1,116 m asl. Additional material (1 specimen): SAIAB 204559 (1 specimen), half-way house road just outside Munhango village, pools in road. Description: Large and robust Ptychadena ; sharp pointed snout; clear longitudinal dorsal ridges; extensive webbing, with one phalange on outer toe (5 th) free of webbing; large pointed subarticular tubercles on toes; small inner metatarsal tubercle; outer metatarsal tubercle absent; enlarged palmar tubercles; ventrum smooth. Dorsum light brown to gray, with scatted dark spots ( PEM A12628 with unusual orange dorsum and yellow infusion in the outer thigh region); pale triangle on snout; lower jaw barred; back of thigh with irregular white blotches or spots that are sometimes fused; ventrum immaculate. Adult males (n = 5) varied from 44.1–51.9 (47.7) mm (largest male: PEM A12835). Habitat and natural history notes: Only found in open dry savanna. Comments: This species has a wide distribution, from Senegal to South Africa ( Channing and Rödel 2019). Found across most of Angola ( Marques et al. 2018), associated with a wide variety of habitats. Smith (1849) gave the type locality as ‘Kaffirland and the region of Port Natal,’ which is situated along the east coast of South Africa. Material from Angola differs molecularly from the topotypical material and warrants further phylogenetic investigation ( Hübler 2015).

Figures

Map 30. Distribution of Ptychadena oxyrhynchus in Angola.

Fig. 32. Adult male Ptychadena oxyrhynchus from Cuito town. Photo by Werner Conradie.