Hildebrandtia cf. ornata (Peters, 1878)

Baptista, Ninda L., António, Telmo & Branch, William R., 2019, The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 203) 13 (2), pp. 96-130 : 105-106

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13238919
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/7E2D87A6-FF85-FFD6-D610-FB854908FC71
treatment provided by	Felipe (2024-07-03 21:20:31, last updated 2024-08-06 15:10:44)
scientific name	Hildebrandtia cf. ornata (Peters, 1878)
status

Treatment

Hildebrandtia cf. ornata (Peters, 1878) View in CoL

Ornate Frog ( Fig. 9 View Fig )

Material: Photographic record (F. Maiato, on wetland between Chibemba and Cahama, approximate coordinates same as site 42).

Comment: Two species of Hildebrandtia exist in Angola: H. ornata and H. ornatissima ( Marques et al. 2018; Baptista et al. 2019). Hildebrantia ornata is limited to the southwest, and H. ornatissima extends northwards to the centralplateau ( Ruas 1996; Marquesetal.2018). Boulenger (1919) provides morphological distinction between H. ornatissima ( Bocage, 1897) , endemic to Angola, and H. ornata (Peters, 1878) (= R. ruddi ), originally described from Kenya but with a wide distribution in Africa. Perret (1976) considered H. ornata and H. ornatissima as two valid species based on morphology, but Poynton and Haacke (1993) contest that, and consider them subspecies.” Specimens collected from Dongue, 28 km west of BNP and other localities in southwestern Angola had mixed features from both taxa and were assigned to H. ornata ornata ( Poynton and Haacke 1993) . A single frog was photographed, approximately 55 km southwest of BNP’s boundaries, and it is provisionally assigned to H. ornata based on the identification of material collected in close proximity ( Poynton and Haacke 1993). Hildebrandtia heavy rains. Pyxicephalus adspersus is recorded from southern Angola in Humbe ( Bocage 1895), Mupanda ( Monard 1937a), and Pereira d’Eça (= Ondjiva) and 23 km NW Pereira d’Eça ( Poynton and Haacke 1993, as P. a. edulis ). Several synonymies exist within P. adspersus ( Frost 2019) . Consensus regarding whether P. edulis occurs in the Zambezi Region (previously the Caprivi Strip), has not been reached ( Herrmann and Branch 2013), and the Angolan material requires further analysis. Locally called “mafuma,” it is captured for consumption and bushmeat trade. It may also have cultural relevance in Angola, as in some parts of Cunene Province this frog’s mating behavior is said to inspire a traditional fight called “engolo” among the Nkhumbi people (J. Moniz, pers. comm.).

specimens have also been recently collected from several localities in Huíla and Malanje provinces (Baptista and Vaz Pinto, unpub. data), and the genus requires a revision in the country.

References

Baptista N, Conradie W, Vaz Pinto P, Branch WR. 2019. The amphibians of Angola: early studies and the current state of knowledge. Pp. 243 - 281 In: Biodiversity of Angola. Science & Conservation: A Modern Synthesis. Editors, Huntley BJ, Russo V, Lages F, Ferrand N. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. 549 p.

Bocage JVB. 1895. Herpetologie d'Angola et du Congo. Imprimerie Nationale, Lisbonne, Portugal. 203 p.

Bocage JVB. 1897. Mammiferos, Aves e reptis da Hanha, no Sertao de Benguella. Jornal de Sciencias, Mathematicas, Physicas e Naturaes (Lisboa) Series 2, 4: 207 - 211.

Boulenger GA. 1919. On Rana ornatissima, Bocage, and R. ruddi, Blgr. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 8: 33 - 37.

Frost DR. 2019. Amphibian Species of the World: an online reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA. Available: http: // research. amnh. org / vz / herpetology / amphibia / index. php [Accessed: 20 February 2019].

Herrmann HW, Branch WR. 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94 - 115.

Marques MP, Ceriaco LMP, Blackburn DC, Bauer AM. 2018. Diversity and distribution of the amphibians and terrestrial reptiles of Angola: atlas of historical and bibliographic records (1840 - 2017). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65 (Supplement II): 1 - 501.

Monard A. 1937 a. Contribuition a la batrachologie d'Angola. Bulletin de la Societe Neuchateloise des Sciences Naturelles 62: 1 - 59.

Perret J-L. 1976. Revision des amphibiens africains et principalement des types, conserves au Musee Bocage de Lisbonne. Arquivos do Museu Bocage Series 2, 6: 15 - 34.

Poynton JC, Haacke WD. 1993. On a collection of amphibians from Angola, including a new species of Bufo Laurenti. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 36: 9 - 16.

Ruas C. 1996. Contribuicao para o conhecimento da fauna de batraquios de Angola. Garcia de Orta: Serie de Zoologia 21 (1): 19 - 41.