Hyperolius concolor
Summary 1
Hyperolius concolor is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forest, aquaculture ponds, and canals and ditches.
Description 2
An abundant bushland Hyperolius from West Africa and western Cameroun. Males medium-sized (24–31 mm), females large, (30–40 mm) with a long pointed snout. Phase F with a dense, uniform green dorsum. Ventrum yellow. No dark lateral pigmentation. Pupil horizontal.
Three subspecies were established by Schiøtz (1967), of which only two have been named:
1. Hyperolius c. concolor. – phase J. with an indistinct hourglass pattern or longitudinal stripes but without a distinct light canthal and dorsolateral stripe.
Distributed from eastern Sierra Leone to western Togo.
2. Hyperolius c. ibadanensis Schiøtz 1967. – Many of the males have a distinct light canthal and dorsolateral line.
Found in Nigeria and also, according to Amiet (1978), in the vicinity of Mamfe, Cameroun.
3. Hyperolius concolor ssp. – Apparently no males with distinct light canthal line.
Occurs in South-east Nigeria east of Cross River and adjacent Cameroun.
The tadpole, with the usual dentition, has a dark stripe laterally from the root of the tail one-fourth to one-third towards the tip of the tail.
This species shows developmental changes in patterning, with two phases, J (juveniles and many mature males) and F (mature females and some mature males). All newly metamorphosed individuals are phase J, which is normally brownish to green with paired light dorsolateral lines, or an hourglass pattern. All females, and some males, develop into phase F before the first breeding season. Phase F is often colorful and variable, showing the diagnostic color characteristics for the species or subspecies. Either well-defined morphs may be present, or graded variation.
Hyperolius concolor is probably closely related to H. balfouri, H. kivuensis and H. tuberilinguis and the four species are sometimes regarded as belonging to one superspecies (Schiøtz 1975).
This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperolius_concolor
- (c) AmphibiaWeb © 2000-2015 The Regents of the University of California, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/34269038
