Kassina senegalensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)

Ayoro, Halamoussa Joëlle, Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoudé, Hema, Emmanuel Midibahaye, Penner, Johannes, Oueda, Adama, Dubois, Alain, Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Kabré, Gustave Boureima & Ohler, Annemarie, 2020, List of amphibian species (Vertebrata, Tetrapoda) of Burkina Faso, Zoosystema 42 (28), pp. 547-582 : 562

Kassina senegalensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)

( Fig. 5B, C )

COLLECTION MATERIAL. — Burkina Faso • 2 ♂ ( SVL 31.5 - 34.0 mm); Kourweogo province , Laye; 12.53079°N, – 1.77155°W; 290 m a.s.l.; VIII.1966; M. Lamotte leg.; MNHN-RA-1998.2009, 1998.2010 .

FIELD MATERIAL. — Burkina Faso • 1 ♂ ( SVL 31.3 mm); W National Park , on the edge of the PK-27 bouli; 11.88744°N, 2.11913°W; 265 m a.s.l.; 20. VI.2018; H. J. Ayoro leg.; under shrubs; hand capture • 1 ♂ ( SVL 32.2 mm); Comoé-Léraba Forest ; 9.93239°N, – 4.60655°W; 220 m a.s.l.; 5.VIII.2018; H. J. Ayoro & A. Ohler leg.; under grasses; hand capture • 4♂ ( SVL 34.9-39.4 mm), 3 subadults ( SVL 20.6-22.4mm); Dori , Toroodi (near the road from Dori to Ouagadougou); 14.00385°N, – 0.02411°W; 270 m a.s.l.; 24.VIII.2018; H. J. Ayoro leg.; in small holes and in dried footprints of oxen near a water body; hand capture • 1 ♀ ( SVL 32.0 mm), 2 subadults ( SVL 24.3-27.6 mm); N’Djomga (on the road from Dori to Gorom-Gorom); 14.0722°N, – 0.0486°W; 265 m a.s.l.; 25.VIII.2018; same collector as for preceding; under a heap of dead grasses in a vegetable garden; hand capture • 1 subadult ( SVL 22.5 mm); Yakouta ; 14.06111°N, – 0.13185°W; 267 m a.s.l.; 26.VIII.2018; same collector as for preceding; under a shrub; hand capture • 1 ♂; Koubri , around “Ancien barrage”; 12.22828°N, – 1.34587°W; 320 m a.s.l; 16.VII.2017; same collector as for preceding; in a bush; acoustic report • 2 ♂; Arly National Park , floodplain (500 m north of Bouliabou pond); 11.57852°N, 1.46004°E; 255 m a.s.l.; 16. VI.2018; same collector as for preceding; acoustic report • 1 ♂; Kou Forest ; in the savannah part of this Forest; 11.18815°N, – 4.44397°W; 375 m a.s.l.; 9.VIII.2018; H. J. Ayoro & A. Ohler leg.; in a bush; acoustic report • Dano , Gbagba; 11.18133°N, – 3.05163°W; 300 m a.s.l.; 2011; J. Penner leg.; field direct observation .

LITERATURE REPORTS. — Burkina Faso • Yako ; 12.96744°N, – 2.26155°W; 330 m a.s.l.; 18.VIII.1961 ( SchiØtz 1967) .

DESCRIPTION. — 15 specimens examined. Males from Laye, Comoé-Léraba forest and W National Park measuring 31.3- 34.0 mm SVL. Males of Dori and Yakouta atteining larger size, 34.9-39.4 mm SVL. These sizes within the known size range of the species ( Lamotte & Xavier 1981; SchiØtz 1999; Rödel 2000; Channing 2001; Channing & Howell 2006; Amiet 2012). Dorsal colouration of K. senegalensis a light-green, yellow or green olive, usually with three dark longitudinal strips, either thin continuous or broken into dark broad blotches ( Fig. 5B, C ).

HABITAT. — Kassina senegalensis are fast moving among grasses and shrubs. Two vouchers were collected under bushy grasses from where they called and were difficult to localize. In Dori and Yakouta area, K. senegalensis was found on the ground under piles of pebbles near water, as well as in small holes or cattle footprints between grasses close to a pond. We heard other males calling from the base of thorny shrubs and piles of dry grass near a millet field. Kassina senegalensis was also found in Sahelian savannahs in Mauritania ( Padial et al. 2013). It shelters under rocks or termite mounds during dry periods ( Poynton & Broadley 1987; Rödel 2000).

Figures

FIG. 5. — Representatives of anuran species from Burkina Faso in life. A, Kassina fusca Schiøtz, 1967; B-C, Kassina senegalensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841); D, Phrynomantis microps Peters, 1875; E, Phrynobatrachus francisci Boulenger, 1912; F, Phrynobatrachus latifrons Ahl, 1924. Photos: Halamoussa Joëlle Ayoro.