Tomopterna tuberculosa ( Boulenger, 1882 )

Willems, Frank & Channing, Alan, 2023, The status of Tomopterna pulchra Boulenger, 1896 (Anura: Pyxicephalidae), Zootaxa 5374 (3), pp. 361-389 : 376

Tomopterna tuberculosa ( Boulenger, 1882)

Western Beaded Sand Frog

Pyxicephalus rugosus Ģnther, 1865:479.

Rana tuberculosa Boulenger, 1882:30 .

Rana (Tomopterna) signata Ahl, 1927:43 . Synonymy by Laurent (1954).

Rana (Tomopterna) cacondana Ahl, 1927:44 . Synonymy by Laurent (1954).

Pyxicephalus tuberculosus — Parker 1936:100.

Rana (Tomopterna) tuberculosa — Monard 1937:44.

Tomopterna cacondana — Deckert 1938:142.

Tomopterna rugosa — Laurent 1954:72.

Tomopterna tuberculosa — Laurent 1964:133.

Tomopterna (Tomopterna) tuberculosa — Dubois 1987:57.

Tomopterna tuberculosa ( Deckert, 1938) — Lobón-Rovira et al. (2022). Attributed to Deckert (1938) in error.

Tomopterna tuberculosa was described by Ģnther (1865) as Pyxicephalus rugosus based on two specimens collected by Dr. Welwitsch from Pungo Andongo in Angola. Pyxicephalus rugosus was replaced by Boulenger (1882), as it was preoccupied by Rana rugosa Temminck & Schlegel, 1838 . In the description, Ģnther emphasises the glandular folds that commence behind each superciliary, converging toward the midline before curving outwards behind the neck. His detailed illustration ( Fig. 2 ) shows the rough dorsum and the characteristic contrasting pattern.

Laurent synonymised T. signata ( Ahl, 1927) and T. cacondana ( Ahl, 1927) as the specimens were collected near the type locality of T. tuberculosa and were essentially indistinguishable from that species.

Advertisement calls from Ongongo and Cuima have a mean dominant frequency of 2639 Hz (2608–2670 Hz), with a mean note rate of 10.5 s- 1 (8.6– 12.3 s- 1) n=2, at an ambient temperature of 24°C.

Sequenced specimens attributable to T. tuberculosa do not possess a pale vertebral stripe, but in body proportions and tubercles are similar to T. pulchra . Poynton & Broadley (1985) noted that some Angolan specimens were brown overall, rather than patterned dorsally. At Ongongo in Namibia about 80% of calling males were brown, with the remainder showing the highly contrasting pattern. One of each pattern is illustrated in Fig. 2 .

Tomopterna tuberculosa has only been genetically confirmed from western Angola and northwest Namibia ( Fig. 7 ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–Tomopterna tuberculosa (Boulenger, 1882), illustration of the type by Ģnther (1865); C–A typical T. tuberculosa morph (PEM A15131) from Ongongo, Namibia (Photo A. Channing).; E–A brown T. tuberculosa morph (PEM A15137) from Dumbo, Angola (Photo A. Channing). B–preserved Tomopterna pulchra (Boulenger, 1896) (PEM A15100) from Muso Hills, Zambia (Photo A. Channing); D–PEM A15100 in life (Photo F. Willems); F–Specimen (PEM A15134) from Iringa, Tanzania (Photo A. Channing).

FIGURE 7. Distribution of genetically confirmed records of T. tuberculosa (blue circles) and T. pulchra (red squares). Type localities indicated by stars. Arid corridor indicated by a dashed line.