Leptopelis cf. calcaratus ( Boulenger, 1906 )

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

Leptopelis cf. calcaratus ( Boulenger, 1906)

Figure 4J

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • Mayombe NP, Sanga Wanda; –4.6270, 12.4527; 215 m a.s.l.; P3.513, P3.515; GenBank: PQ455853–54. • Mayombe NP, Bata Lunhuca; – 4.5981, 12.4597; 215 m a.s.l.; P4.084; GenBank: PQ455855.

Identification. A medium-sized Leptopelis (SVL = 42–57 mm) with characteristic white spurs on the heels. The specimens from Cabinda Province differ by 3.8–4% (16S p -distance) from material collected from Sapia, Cameroon (GenBank: KT967090 , KT967091 ), ∼ 100 km south of the type locality at Efoulan, Cameroon. The large genetic distance suggests cryptic diversification within L. calcaratus . We therefore listed the material from Cabinda Province as Leptopelis cf. calcaratus , pending further investigation.

Biology and distribution. An arboreal Leptopelis widely distributed in the Gulf of Guinea and the Congo Basin,from Nigeria eastwards to DRC ( Channing and Rödel 2019). The species had recently been reported from northwestern Angola (Ernst et al.2020; Baptista 2024), but these specimens constitute the first records of the species for Cabinda ( Baptista 2024).

Figures

Figure 4. Species of the families Arthroleptidae, Bufonidae and Dicroglossidae recorded from Mayombe National Park and Cabinda Province, Angola. Codes in brackets represent field tissue numbers. A. Arthroleptis adelphus from Miconge, Upper Mayombe (P3.186). B. A. carquejai (P3.123) and C. A. aff. poecilonotus (P3.119) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. D. A. sylvaticus from Miconge, Upper Mayombe (P2.194). E. Cardioglossa leucomystax from Vaku (P2.031) and from F. Miconge (P2.218), Upper Mayombe. G. Leptopelis aubryi from Mbundu, Lower Mayombe (P3.214). H. L. cf. aubryioides (P3.514), I. L. boulengeri (P3.523) and J. L. cf. calcaratus (P3.513) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. K. L. cf. jordani (P3.163) from Lombe River, Vaku, Upper Mayombe. L. L. millsoni (P9.070) from South of Dinge. M. L. ocellatus (P3.113) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. N. L. rufus (P2.045) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe O. Scotobleps gabonicus (P3.139) from Chimbete, Lower Mayombe. P. Trichobatrachus robustus (P2.181) from Miconge, and Q. Nectophryne afra (P2.063) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe. R. N. aff. batesii (P3.224) from Mbundu, Lower Mayombe. S. Sclerophrys sp. (P2.042) from Vaku, Upper Mayombe. T. S. pusilla (P2.094) from Sanga Mongo, Lower Mayombe. U. S. regularis (P1.142) from Tando Zinze. V. S. tuberosa (P3.509) from Sanga Wanda, Lower Mayombe. W. Hoplobatrachus occipitalis (P9.073) from South of Dinge. Photographs by PVP (A–J, L, N, P–T, V–W), JLR (K, M, O) and TB (U).