Sclerophrys vittata

Last updated

Sclerophrys vittata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Sclerophrys
Species:
S. vittata
Binomial name
Sclerophrys vittata
(Boulenger, 1906)
Synonyms [2]
  • Bufo vittatus Boulenger, 1906
  • Amietophrynus vittatus (Boulenger, 1906)

Sclerophrys vittata, also known as Degen's toad, banded toad, or Lake Victoria toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. [2] It is endemic to Uganda, [1] [2] where it is only known from Lira south to Entebbe and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This species may possibly be found in Kenya and its range may even extend into Egypt, but the records from northern Egypt are generally regarded as belonging to S. kassasii . [1]

Contents

Description

Sclerophrys vittata is a small toad with long, narrow parotoid glands, distinctive dark-coloured longitudinal stripes and rows of large tubercles on its upper surface, and a bold patterning of red and dark blotches on its underside. [3] In Egypt the snout vent length of the toads varied between 26 and 36 millimeters. No difference was found between males and females concerning body length. [4]

Distribution

Sclerophrys vittata is found in Uganda and was first described by George Albert Boulenger in 1906. Its range extends from Lira southwards to Entebbe and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. It has also been reported from Katera in the southern foothills of Mount Kenya, but this record is disputed. [1] Some toads found between 1909 and 1912 near Alexandria in Egypt were originally identified as this species but may have been misidentified. From 1989 to 1991, Akef and Schneider investigated the reproductive behavior and analyzed the calls of Bufo vittatus in Egypt in the Al−Fayoum region. [4] In 1993 a new species of toad was described by Sherif Baha el Din from the Nile Delta as Bufo kassasii , and it is thought the original identification of Sclerophrys vittata from Egypt referred to this new species, also known as the Nile Delta toad. [3] However, it is possible that this species has a wider range including parts of the Nile Valley and into Egypt. [1]

Calls and calling activity

Calls

The mating calls have a simple structure. They consist of three to four very short pules separated by intervals. Calls have been recorded at water temperatures of 17 to 27 degrees Celsius. At 24 degrees water temperature the mean call duration measures 120 milliseconds, the intercall interval 300 milliseconds, the calls exhibit two frequency components at about 1100 and 2800 Hertz. There is a correlation between the water temperature and some call parameters. As the water temperature increases the duration of the calls decreases when the calls consisting of three or four pulses are considered separately. The intervals between the calls and between the pulses also decrease, whereas the pulse rate increases. The number of pulses per call and the duration of the pulses do not change. [4]

Annual and daily calling activity

Calling of the males begins in the first half of February and lasts until October. It reaches a climax in spring and early summer. During this time calling begins shortly after sunset and lasts until 1 to 2 a.m. Later in summer calling ends earlier, around 10 to 11 p.m. and ends in September and October even earlier. [4]

Calling behaviour

Calling males gather in small shallow ponds, irrigation canals and ditches, rice and corn fields. They form choruses consisting of about 20 males. The calling males maintain a minimum distance of about 0.7 meters. At decreasing calling activity during the year, males continue to form choruses, but the number of choruses decreases. Males call while sitting in the water, the body is erected, the hind limbs and the posterior part of the body are immersed in the water. The males have a single subgular vocal sac. When fully inflated, it is very large in relation to the body length. Pair formation is high in spring and early summer, later on it decreases, but pairs are observed until October. [4]

Status

Very little is known about this species and its natural history. It inhabits marshy areas and presumably its larvae are aquatic. Its population status, ecology and the threats it faces are unknown and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists its conservation status as "data deficient". [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common toad</span> Species of amphibian

The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad, is a frog found throughout most of Europe, in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American toad</span> Species of amphibian

The American toad is a common species of toad found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad, the dwarf American toad and the rare Hudson Bay toad. Recent taxonomic treatments place this species in the genus Anaxyrus instead of Bufo.

Sclerophrys taiensis is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is known from the Taï National Park in southwestern Ivory Coast and from the Gola Forest in southeastern Sierra Leone; it is likely that its range extends into the adjacent Liberia. Common name Tai toad has been proposed for it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodhouse's toad</span> Species of amphibian

Woodhouse's toad is a medium-sized true toad native to the United States and Mexico. There are three recognized subspecies. A. woodhousii tends to hybridize with Anaxyrus americanus where their ranges overlap.

<i>Anaxyrus fowleri</i> Species of amphibian

Fowler's toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. The species is native to North America, where it occurs in much of the eastern United States and parts of adjacent Canada. It was previously considered a subspecies of Woodhouse's toad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabian toad</span> Species of amphibian

The Arabian toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and is found in Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

<i>Sclerophrys blanfordii</i> Species of amphibian

Sclerophrys blanfordii is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in northeastern Ethiopia, Somaliland, Djibouti, and Eritrea. The specific name blanfordii honours William Thomas Blandford, a British geologist and zoologist. Common names Blanford's toad and Ethiopia toad have been coined for it, the latter might specifically refer to the now-synonymized Bufo sibiliai.

<i>Sclerophrys garmani</i> Species of amphibian

Sclerophrys garmani, also known as Garman's toad or eastern olive toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is widely distributed in East and Southern Africa. However, populations north and south of Tanzania might represent distinct species. If so, the name Sclerophrys garmani would apply to populations from northeastern Africa. Furthermore, its southern boundary towards the range of Sclerophrys poweri in South Africa is also unclear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guttural toad</span> Species of amphibian

The African common toad or guttural toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Somalia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, intermittent rivers, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, ponds, and canals and ditches.

The Nile Delta toad or Damietta toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Egypt, where it is found from the Nile Delta to as far south as Luxor. Its natural habitats are swamps, freshwater marshes, arable land, urban areas, seasonally flooded agricultural land and canals and ditches.

Sclerophrys kerinyagae is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in central Ethiopia, Kenya, northern Tanzania, and eastern Uganda. Common names Keith's toad and Kerinyaga toad have been coined for it.

Sclerophrys langanoensis is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to northern Rift Valley in Ethiopia, where it has been recorded from Lake Langano and the Awash National Park; the latter population might represent a distinct species. It is likely that this species will also be found in Eritrea and Somalia. Common name Lake Langano toad has been coined for it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona toad</span> Species of amphibian

The Arizona toad is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the south-western United States, where its natural habitats are temperate lowland forests, rivers and streams, swamps, freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, ponds, open excavations, irrigated land, and seasonally flooded agricultural land.

Poyntonophrynus parkeri is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in central Tanzania and in southwestern Kenya, from the Usangu Plain in the south northward to the southern Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is a poorly known species, however, and its distribution might be broader.

<i>Sclerophrys perreti</i> Species of amphibian

Sclerophrys perreti is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the Idanre Hills in southwestern Nigeria. Sclerophrys perreti is one of the frogs declared as "Lost" in 2010. However, it was re-discovered at its type locality in 2013. Before that, it had not been seen—possibly—since 1970, and with certainty, since 1963. Common name Perret's toad has been coined for it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raucous toad</span> Species of amphibian

The raucous toad, also known as Ranger's toad, is a species of toad from Southern Africa.

<i>Sclerophrys regularis</i> Species of amphibian

Sclerophrys regularis, commonly known as the African common toad, square-marked toad, African toad, Egyptian toad, African bouncing toad and Reuss's toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found widely in the Subsaharan Africa, with its range extending to the oases in Algeria and Libya as well as to northern Nilotic Egypt. Specifically, it is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda.

Sclerophrys tuberosa is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in southeastern Nigeria, Cameroon, southwestern Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and northern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo. Common names rough toad, warty toad, and Fernando Po toad have been proposed for it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden toad</span> Extinct species of toad that was endemic to Costa Rica

The golden toad is an extinct species of true toad that was once abundant in a small, high-altitude region of about 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) in an area north of the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. It was endemic to elfin cloud forest. Also called the Monte Verde toad, Alajuela toad and orange toad, it is commonly considered the "poster child" for the amphibian decline crisis. This toad was first described in 1966 by herpetologist Jay Savage. The last sighting of a single male golden toad was on 15 May 1989, and it has since been classified as extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

<i>Bufotes</i> Genus of amphibians

Bufotes, the Eurasian green toads or Palearctic green toads, is a genus of true toads. They are native to Europe, western and central Asia and northern Africa; a region roughly equalling the western and central Palearctic. Historically they were included in the genus Bufo and then for a few years placed in Pseudepidalea, which is a synonym of the currently accepted name Bufotes.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2016). "Sclerophrys vittata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T54796A107352060. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T54796A107352060.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Sclerophrys vittata (Boulenger, 1906)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 Baha el Din; Sherif M. (1993). "A new species of toad (Anura, Bufonidae) from Egypt". Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa. 42 (1): 24–27. doi:10.1080/04416651.1993.9650367.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Mamdouh Saad Ahmed Akef, Hans Schneider: Reproductive behavior and mating call pattern in Degen's toad, Bufo vittatus, in Egypt (Bufonidae, Amphibia). In: African Journal of Zoology, Volume 107, 1993, S. 97−104.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.