Aubria subsigillata (Duméril, 1856)

Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoudé, Ohler, Annemarie, Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Luiselli, Luca & Dubois, Alain, 2024, Amphibians of Togo: taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zoosystema 46 (25), pp. 631-670 : 659-660

Aubria subsigillata (Duméril, 1856)

( Fig. 13C )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Togo • 5 ♂, 16 ♀; Kovié ; MNHN-RA-1989.2047, MNHN-RA-1989.2049, MNHN-RA-1989.2050, MNHN-RA-1989.2052-2055, MNHN-RA-1989.1465, MNHN-RA-1989.1466, MNHN-RA-1989.2056, MNHN-RA-1989.4054, MNHN-RA-1989.4056, MNHN-RA-1989.4057, MNHN-RA-1993.1462-1464, MNHN-RA-1993.1467-1469, MNHN-RA-1993.1471 .

DESCRIPTION. — Very large frog (SVL 51.5-80.6 mm ♂, 76- 91 mm ♀), with an elongated and robust body. Snout rounded, ogival. Head longer than broad (HW 32-35% SVL; HL 36-41% SVL). Tympanum round and distinct (TYD 5-7% SVL). Hind legs short (TL 36-42% SVL). Webbing moderate, leaving more than phalanges free; palmar webbing: I 1 – 1 ½ II 1 – 2 III 1 ½ – 2 ½ IV 2 ½ – 1 V. Toe tips pointed. Skin smooth on the back and on the flanks with very fine glandular warts; presence of rounded femoral glands on the ventral surface of the thighs.

COLOURATION. — Dorsal colouration is uniform, brown to grayish with dark spots barely visible on live specimens. The flanks are light brown to grayish with whitish round spots. The ventral side has this pattern but is clearer.

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM. — It is not very marked. Adult females have round femoral glands on the lower side of thighs.

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — In Togo this species is only known from the Kovié region in ecological zone V, although it is distributed throughout the coastal western and central African subregions ( Ohler 1996; Channing & Rödel 2019). The species has been reported in Togo by Bourgat (1979), Kulo (1980, 1981), Ohler & Kazadi (1989), Ohler (1996) and Segniagbeto et al. (2007). The Togolese habitats of this species are currently degraded because of the exploitation of the Zio basin for agriculture, seriously threatening the survival of this species in Togo.

Figures

FIG. 13. — Representatives of anuran species from Togo in life: A, Ptychadena pumilio (Boulenger, 1920) (Mango); B, Ptychadena tellinii (Peracca, 1904) (Koui); C, Aubria subsigillata (Duméril,1856) (Kovié);D, Hylarana galamensis (Duméril & Bibron,1841) (Avévé);E, Hylarana parva (Griesbaum, Jongsma, Penner,Kouamé, Doumbia, Gonwouo, Hillers, Glos, Blackburn & RÖdel, 2023) (Diguengue); F, Geotrypetes seraphini (Duméril, 1859) (Agou).