Cape river frog
| Cape river frog | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Pyxicephalidae |
| Genus: | Amietia |
| Species: | A. fuscigula |
| Binomial name | |
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Amietia fuscigula (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) |
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The Cape river frog (Amietia fuscigula) is a species of frog in the family Pyxicephalidae named for the Cape of Good Hope. It was formerly placed in the family Ranidae. It occurs widely in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. A newly described species, A. poyntoni, was split from this species in 2013.
Amietia fuscigula is a fairly large, typical frog with a snout-to-vent measurement of up to about 125 mm. The snout is slightly rounded. It has a powerful, athletic build with long hind legs and feet, well adapted for leaping, but also well webbed; the species is a powerful swimmer. The fore feet are not webbed. When the animal sits at rest on a level surface, the tip of the longest rear toe reaches to directly below the tympanum.
The ventral skin is smooth and white, except for dark mottling on the throat. The mottling inspired the specific epithet fuscigula: Latin for "dusky throated". In some specimens, the mottling extends to the belly. The dorsal skin bears a modest sprinkling of small, rounded protuberances and segments of longitudinal ridges. The colour scheme is variable, ranging from dark- through light-brown, also commonly green or olive, or with green streaks. The back and limbs are more or less conspicuously blotched with darker irregular spots.
Little sexual dimorphism is noted, but the male in breeding season bears a dark, swollen nuptial pad on each thumb.
The eye and tympanum are prominent; the diameter of the tympanum is barely smaller than that of the eye.
The Cape river frog occurs in a wide range of temperate to tropical habitats wherever fresh water is at least sufficient seasonally for breeding, including arable land, pastureland, savanna, shrubland, fynbos, grassland, rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, marshes and springs, water storage areas, ponds, dams, and sewage treatment areas. Sometimes they even will occupy and breed in domestic water containers such as water butts or horse troughs.
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Wikipedia