Togo Reed Frog

description

MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION Specimen in mediocre condition, flattened; of very small size (SVL 14.2 mm), rather robust. Head of large size, narrower (HW 5.9 mm) than long (HL 6.7 mm; MN 5.31 mm; MFE 4.34 mm; MBE 2.59 mm), flat. Snout rounded, protruding, its length (SL 2.27 mm) shorter than horizontal diameter of eye (EL 2.72 mm). Canthus rostralis rounded, loreal region concave, at an obtuse angle to upper head. Interorbital space flat, about same width (IUE 1.75 mm) than upper eyelid (UEW 1.81 mm) but wider than internarial distance (IN 1.56 mm); distance between front of eyes (IFE 3.50 mm) about two third of distance between back of eyes (IBE 5.31 mm). Nostrils about as close to tip of snout (NS 1.04 mm) as to eye (EN 1.17 mm). Pupil oval. Tympanum indistinct, its diameter (TYD 0.65 mm) about two times its distance from eye (TYE 0.26 mm). Pineal ocellus absent. Vomerine ridges absent. Tongue large, oval, emarginate; median lingual process absent. Tooth-like bony projections on maxilla absent. Forearm short, moderately thick (FLL 2.85 mm), shorter than length of hand (HAL 3.69 mm), not enlarged. Fingers I and II short, strong, fingers III and IV long (TFL 2.07 mm), strong. Relative

Amphibians of Togo: taxonomy, distribution and conservation status

materials_examined

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holophoront (holotype) • ZMB 46529, juvenile collected by Leopold Fritz Wilhelm Conradt on 17. XII. 1892 in Togo (Fig. 8).

Amphibians of Togo: taxonomy, distribution and conservation status

discussion

REMARK Onomatophore: holophoront (holotype) by monophory, ZMB 46529, juvenile frog (Fig. 7). Onymotope (type locality): Togo; the ergonymotope (Frétey et al. 2018) might be the vicinity of Bismarckburg (Sotouboua Prefecture, Centrale Region), the place where the collector, Leopold Fritz Wilhelm Edmund Conradt, was stationed from July 1892 to December 1893 (Tillack et al. 2021), thus on the date of collection, the 17 December 1892. COMMENTS ON THE IDENTITY OF THE HOLOPHORONT OF HYPEROLIUS LATICEPS Ahl (1931) described a species from Togo on a single specimen with a colour pattern which is present in the species of the Hyperolius picturatus complex (Kanga et al. 2021). This species was mentioned by Laurent (1958), SchiØtz (1967) and Frost (1985). Recent authors considered its taxonomic identity not resolvable. Laurent (1958) regarded its morphological characters more similar to Leptopelis without giving precise character states, but in Frost (1985) it was listed as a valid Hyperolius species. According to Tillack et al. (2021), the holophoront cannot be assigned to any species from West Africa. Consulted on 18 June 2023, the website Amphibian Species of the World lists the name among

Amphibians of Togo: taxonomy, distribution and conservation status

Hyperolius laticeps Ahl 1931

Hyperolius laticeps Ahl, 1931a: 69. Holotype. ZMB 46529, “Togo”, coll. Leopold Fritz Wilhelm Edmund Conradt, 17.XII.1892. Present name. Hyperolius laticeps Ahl, 1931a. Remarks. Depicted in Ahl (1931b: 342, fig. 216). Conradt was a German planter and colonial officer, who was working in “Derema” [Derema, Usambara Mountains, Korogwe District, Tanga Region, Tanzania] at the end of 1891. His collections of vertebrates made during this time were described by Matschie (1892). Later he went to Togo, being stationed in Bismarckburg [Sotouboua Prefecture, Centrale Region, Togo] from VII/1892-XII/1893 (Weidmann 1894; Conradt 1896). See also remarks on Megalixalus laevis concerning his activities in Tanzania and Cameroon. The specimen is a juvenile Hyperolius and cannot be assigned confidently to a particular West African species.

A type catalogue of the reed frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Hyperoliidae) in the collection of the Museum fuer Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB) with comments on historical collectors and expeditions