Ptychadena schillukorum ( Werner, 1908 )

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 : 570

Ptychadena schillukorum ( Werner, 1908)

( Figs 6D , 8A )

FIELD MATERIAL. — Burkina Faso • 2 ♂ ( SVL 33.3-35.9 mm); Arly National Park , the floodplain; 11.57852°N, 1.46004°W; 255 m a.s.l.; 16.VI.2018; H. J. Ayoro leg.; around a small water body; hand capture .

LITERATURE REPORTS. — Burkina Faso • Gourma province , Fada N’gourma; 12.06051°N, 0.34913°E; 300 m a.s.l. (Mohneke 2011; Mohneke et al. 2011) • Ganzourgou province , Mogtedo; 12.31844°N, – 0.83601°W; 280 m a.s.l. (Mohneke 2011; Mohneke et al. 2011) • Zorgho ; 12.2483°N, – 0.6278°W; 300 m a.s.l.; I-III.2008 (Mohneke 2011; Mohneke et al. 2011) .

DESCRIPTION. — 2 specimens studied. Ptychadena with a compact and less slender body than P. pumilio . Limbs comparatively short; webbing formula: I 1 - 1½ II 0 - 2 III 1 - 2 ½ IV 2 ½ - 0 V. Absence of supernumerary tubercles. The back with discontinuous, partly indistinct rows of elongate warts ( Fig. 6D ; Fig. 8A ). A discontinuous white lateral line, extending from above the tympanum to the rear back. Dorsal colour greyish with some darker spots.

COMMENTS. — Specimens identification based on the discontinuous dorsal ridges and their size (see Nago et al. 2006). However, in other parts of Africa, this name is applied to frogs which look completely different (larger and showing continuous dorsal ridges): see e.g. Channing (2001). Werner (1908) indicated in the original description a size ranging from 35-43 mm for the four females from Sudan.

HABITAT. — The two males were captured on the edge of a small water body in the floodplain from Arly National Park. Ptychadena schillukorum inhabits dry savannahs and grasslands ( Nago et al. 2006; Sánchez-Vialas et al. 2017) and it breeds in swampy valleys and savannah ponds during the rainy season ( Nago et al. 2009). The species, as currently defined, is found across sub-Saharan savannahs of West and East Africa ( Stewart 1967; Hughes 1988; Channing 2001; Mohneke et al. 2011; Sow et al. 2017).

Figures

FIG. 6. — Representatives of anuran species from Burkina Faso in life. A, Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878); B-C, Ptychadena pumilio (Boulenger, 1920); D, Ptychadena schillukorum (Werner, 1908); E-F, Pyxicephalus maltzanii (Boulenger, 1882). Photos: Halamoussa Joëlle Ayoro.

FIG. 8. — Photos of collection vouchers: two anuran species from Burkina Faso preserved in alcohol, dorsal view (left) and ventral view (right) A, Ptychadena schillukorum (Werner, 1908) a field specimen to complete the Fig. 6D; B, Amnirana albolabris (west) Jongsma et al. (2018), MNHN-RA-1999.7575. Photos: A, Halamoussa Joëlle Ayoro; B, Annemarie Ohler.