Leptopelis rufus Reichenow, 1874

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 rufus Reichenow, 1874

Figure 4N

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • Mayombe NP, Miconge; –4.4860, 12.8780; 377 m a.s.l.; FKH 1049, FKH 1053; GenBank: PQ455867–68. • Mayombe NP, Vaku; – 4.6323, 12.8937; 319 m a.s.l.; FKH 0931−32; GenBank: PQ455869–70 .

Identification. A large brown Leptopelis (SVL = 55–87 mm) sister to L. millsoni and L. macrotis , from which it can be difficult to differentiate morphologically other than by having a comparatively smaller tympanum ( Jaynes et al. 2022). Material from Cabinda Province is identical (16S p -distance) to material from south of Ogooué River, Gabon (GenBank: MZ408848 ).

Biology and distribution. An arboreal Leptopelis widely distributed in the Gulf of Guinea lowlands forests, from southern Nigeria to Cabinda Province, including Bioko Island ( Channing and Rödel 2019). The species is associated with primary moist forest. The specimens were collected from leaves near fast-flowing forest streams at Upper Mayombe between 300–400 m a.s.l. and represent the first country records ( 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).