Afrixalus upembae

Afrixalus upembae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Hyperoliidae
Genus:Afrixalus
Species: A. upembae
Binomial name
Afrixalus upembae
(Laurent, 1941)
Synonyms[2]
  • Megalixalus leptosomus upembae Laurent, 1941
  • Afrixalus leptosomus upembae (Laurent, 1941)
  • Hyperolius fulvovittatus upembae (Laurent, 1941)

Afrixalus upembae is a species of frog in the family Hyperoliidae. It is endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is known from the lower Katanga Province (=Shaba Province),[1][2][3][4] although its true distribution might be wider;[1] possibly reaching eastern Angola.[5] It belongs to the taxonomically unresolved "Afrixalus quadrivittatus complex",[1][3][4] and it is not even clear that it is a valid species.[1]

Description

The body is relatively elongate.[5] The dorsum is dark brown and has three light stripes that merge on the snout. The brown dorsal bands have diffuse borders.[3][4][5]

Habitat and conservation

Afrixalus upembae lives in moist savanna[1][5] and probably breeds in small pools.[1] The type series consists more of one thousand specimens, suggesting it is an abundant species.[1] However, the type series does not contain any mature males, possibly because juveniles and females might use different daytime hiding places than males.[6]

Major threats to this species are unknown, as is its recent population status. It can be found in Upemba National Park.[1]

Lake Upemba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The eponymous Lake Upemba is the type locality of Afrixalus upembae

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2014). "Afrixalus upembae". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2014: e.T56082A18371811. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T56082A18371811.en. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Afrixalus upembae (Laurent, 1941)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Afrixalus upembae". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "Afrixalus upembae (Laurent, 1941)". African Amphibians. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Perret, J.-L. (1976). "Identité de quelques Afrixalus (Amphibia, Salientia, Hyperoliidae)". Bulletin de la Société Neuchâteloise des Sciences Naturelles. 99: 19–28.
  6. ↑ Pickersgill, Martin (2007). "A redefinition of Afrixalus fulvovittatus (Cope, 1860) and Afrixalus vittiger (Peters, 1876) (Amphibia, Anura Hyperoliidae)". African Journal of Herpetology. 56 (1): 23–37. doi:10.1080/21564574.2007.9635551.
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