Ptychadena mascareniensis, OTU

Lobón-Rovira, Javier, Lobón-Rovira, Baptista, Ninda L, Clark, Tyron, Verburgt, Luke, Jongsma, Gregory Fm, Conradie, Werner, and, Luis Veríssimo, Vaz, Pedro & Pinto, 2025, Filling the gaps: herpetological checklist of Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province (Angola) shed light on one of the most unexplored corners of tropical Central Africa, African Journal of Herpetology 74 (1), pp. 1-59 : 1-59

Ptychadena mascareniensis OTU 6 (Dumeril and Bibron, 1841)

Figure 7O

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • Mayombe NP, Miconge; –4.4860, 12.8780; 377 m a.s.l.; FKH 1031 ; GenBank: PQ455936. • Mayombe NP, Lombe River , Vaku; –4.6403, 12.935; 269 m a.s.l.; FKH 1251 ; GenBank: PQ455937 .

Identification. A species complex of medium-sized (SVL = 46–58 mm) grass frogs that includes several new candidate species ( Zimkus et al. 2017). Usually with brown to grey dorsal colouration, a green vertebral line and 4–6 continuous rows of dorsolateral and lateral skin folds ( Channing and Rödel 2019). In Cabinda Province we recorded two well differentiated (∼3.4% 16S p -distance) mitochondrial lineages within this species complex (see Ptychadena sp. account). Material from Upper Mayombe is conspecific with material from Congo Basin and Gabon ascribed to OTU6 by Zimkus et al. (2017), which is identical to material from Buba, Lake Albert, DRC (GenBank: KX836481 ) and Kampala, Uganda (GenBank: DQ525931 ).

Biology and distribution. The species complex is widely distributed in sub-Saharan savannah and rainforest, including Madagascar. Adapted to a wide panoply of biomes and ecoregions, this species complex has the largest geographic distribution of any amphibian species in Africa. The material mentioned here was collected in clearings on the edge of primary rainforest.

Figures

Figure 7. Species of the families Phrynobatrachidae, Pipidae, Ptychadenidae, Ranidae and Rhacophoridae recorded from from Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province, Angola. Codes in brackets represent field numbers. A. Phrynobatrachus auritus (P2.057) and B. (P2.033) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe, C. (P3.141) from Chimbete and D. (P3.191) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. E. P. aff. parvulus (P2.115) from Caio Cacungo. F. Amplectant pair of P. aff. parvulus from Sanga Wanda, G. (P3.135) from Chimbete, and H. (P3.124) Mbundu, Lower Mayombe. I. Phrynobatrachus sp. (P2.196) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe. J. Xenopus (Xenopus) allofraseri (P3.121) and K. Xenopus (Xenopus) andrei (P3.533) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. L. Xenopus (Silurana) mellotropicalis (P3.176), from Quissoki, Upper Mayombe. M. Hymenochirus feae (P3.544) from Mbundo, Lower Mayombe. N. Ptychadena anchietae (P3.107) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. O. Ptychadena mascareniensis OUT 6 (P3.168), Lombe River, Vaku, Upper Mayombe. P. Ptychadena perreti (P2.214) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe Q. Ptychadena taenioscelis (P1.141) from Tando Zinze. R. Hylarana (Amnirana) albolabris (P3.154) from Quissoki and S. Hylarana (Amnirana) aff. lepus (P2.187) from Miconge, Upper Mayombe. T. Chiromantis rufescens (P9.072) from South of Dinge. Photographs by PVP (A–E, G–T), JLR (F).