Leptopelis anchietae (Bocage, 1873)

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 : 25

Leptopelis anchietae (Bocage, 1873)

Anchieta’s Tree Frog ( Map 3 )

Material (1 tadpole lot): PEM A14174 (five tadpoles), Cubango River campsite below rapids, west of Fundo village, -13.04260° 16.37476°, 1,559 m asl. Description: Elongated tadpoles; 20.8–30.6 mm total length, with tail 2.6–3.1 times the body length. Body is dark brown to black, ventrum with scattered light golden spots; lateral tail muscle dark brown to black, with two lighter bands from body to tail tip; posterior half of tail black. The labial tooth row formula ( LTRF) is 3(2–3)/3(1); jaw sheaths are heavily keratinized; anterior part of mouth free of elongated marginal papillae. Habitat and natural history notes: Tadpoles were collected in a flooded grassland next to the main river. Comments:

Identification of tadpoles was confirmed by 16S rRNA barcoding (N. Baptista, unpub. data) and compared to the description in Channing et al. (2012). This Angolan endemic species occurs mostly in the highlands of central and western Angola (Becker et al., in prep.), and many of the old historical records (e.g., Marques et al. 2018) are based on incorrect identifications or erroneous locality data (Pedro vaz Pinto, pers. comm.).

Figures

Map 3. Distribution of Leptopelis anchietae in Angola.