Mulanje Reed Frog

general

H. spinigularis from Northern Tanzania comprise a separate genetic group from H. spinigularis from Mount Mulanje in Malawi (Lawson, 2010 in review). The two clades are very similar, though both males and females from Malawi are slightly larger, have more spines, and appear to lose their spines outside of the breeding season (Tanzanian specimens are reported to retain spines). The ranges of H. tanneri and H. minutissimus fall in the intervening area between these two distant H. spinigularis clades, and are often mistaken for H. spinigularis .

African Amphibians

morphology

Broad head. Green in life with two color patterns: White triangle on snout with thick, broken dorsolateral lines or lacking a triangle and instead having thing yellow or pale canthal and dorsolateral lines. Black horizontal pupil. Hands and feet are pale yellow with green digital discs. Ventral surface is pale, translucent blue-green becoming silvery white over the abdomen.

African Amphibians

biology

A small, green Hyperolius found around wetlands in the primarily forested highland areas of Tanzania and Malawi. Males have distinctive small black spines on their throats(Gular flap), and to a lesser extent stomachs and groins. Color patterns are predominantly green with either a white triangle on the snout and broken dorsolateral stripes or regular and clearly defined thin white or yellow canthal and dorsolateral lines extending back towards the groin. This species does not call and perches on tree branches and large leaves overhanging pools of water. Females lay egg masses on broad leaves overhanging water and return to water the masses for a series of days until the mass slides into the water as tadpoles.

African Amphibians

diagnostic

This is a small Hyperolius . The dorsum is a translucent green or brown with pale canthal and dorsolateral stripes. In some individuals the entire area of the snout in front of the eyes may be white. Both males and females have small spines on the dorsum. In males, the throat and undersides of the legs are covered with conspicuous black spines (Text from Harper et al., 2010).

African Amphibians