#nectophrynoides

Photo credit: John Lyakurwa.

These toads look absolutely crazy. Like, look at the new species Nectophrynoides uhehe:

Photo credit: Michele Menegon

Or the closely related Nectophrynoides viviparus, which was described in 1905 but which we revised in this paper.

Photo credit: Michele Menegon

These are unlike most toads you might know. They live in trees and bushes of the rainforest, crawling and leaping about!

But neither ecology nor apperance are nearly the craziest part: These toads are live bearing! Females carry huge litters, sometimes >100 young, until they complete their development, and give birth to these tiny, fully formed toadlets.

CW: Preserved specimen of a pregnant toad below the cut.

Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), family Bufonidae, Tanzania

EXTINCT IN THE WILD. (declared in 2009)

This species was endemic to a two-hectare (5-acre) area at the base of the Kihansi River waterfall in the Udzungwa escarpment of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania.

The small population of this habitat restricted toad fluctuated greatly over the years, with the largest known peak being ~29,000 individuals. By 2004, only 3 individuals were found, the last of the frogs seen in the wild.

Extinction in the wild was due to habitat destruction and degradation due to the construction of the Kihansi Dam in 1999.

The species is being bred and cared for in zoos around the world, and reintroduction efforts are under way (which includes habitat restoration).

Like other toads in this genus, they give live birth.

Museomics and integrative taxonomy reveal three new species of glandular viviparous tree toads (Nectophrynoides) in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains (Anura: Bufonidae)

Christian Thrane, John V. Lyakurwa, H. Christoph Liedtke, Michele Menegon, Alice Petzold, Simon P. Loader, Mark D. Scherz

Abstract

For the last century, herpetologists have referred to any Nectophrynoides Noble, 1926 toad characterized by a large, robust body, with large, distinct parotoid glands, as Nectophrynoides viviparus (Tornier, 1905). Consequently, Nectophrynoides viviparus is also considered to have the broadest distribution of all its congeners, with populations ranging from the Tanzanian Southern Highlands, close to the Tanzania-Malawi border, through the Udzungwa and Mahenge Mountains in the south to Uluguru, Rubeho, and Nguru Mountains in the central part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. However, there is underappreciated morphological diversity within what is generally referred to as N. viviparus, and various populations are isolated by large distances and geographical barriers. Recent molecular studies have shown that N. viviparus from the Southern Highlands, the type locality, is genetically distinct from all other N. viviparus populations in the Eastern Arc Mountains, suggesting the existence of a species complex warranting taxonomic revision. Here, we present an integrative taxonomic assessment of southern populations by supplementing the genetic results with the analysis of morphometric and morphological data for 257 specimens assigned to N. viviparus, including museomic data for name-bearing types. Based on the results, we describe three new species from the N. viviparus species complex, covering the southern Eastern Arc Mountains populations. Together with a revised morphological key to the genus and a gazetteer of known populations, we provide Extent of Occurrence and Area of Occupancy for N. viviparus sensu stricto and the new species to investigate their conservation status compared to other members of the genus.

Read the paper here:

Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), family Bufonidae, Tanzania

EXTINCT IN THE WILD. (declared in 2009)

This species was endemic to a two-hectare (5-acre) area at the base of the Kihansi River waterfall in the Udzungwa escarpment of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania.

The small population of this habitat restricted toad fluctuated greatly over the years, with the largest known peak being ~29,000 individuals. By 2004, only 3 individuals were found, the last of the frogs seen in the wild.

Extinction in the wild was due to habitat destruction and degradation due to the construction of the Kihansi Dam in 1999.

The species is being bred and cared for in zoos around the world, and reintroduction efforts are under way (which includes habitat restoration).

Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), family Bufonidae, Tanzania

EXTINCT IN THE WILD. (declared in 2009)

This species was endemic to a two-hectare (5-acre) area at the base of the Kihansi River waterfall in the Udzungwa escarpment of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania.

The small population of this habitat restricted toad fluctuated greatly over the years, with the largest known peak being ~29,000 individuals. By 2004, only 3 individuals were found, the last of the frogs seen in the wild.

Extinction in the wild was due to habitat destruction and degradation due to the construction of the Kihansi Dam in 1999.

The species is being bred and cared for in zoos around the world, and reintroduction efforts are under way (which includes habitat restoration).

Morogoro Tree Toad or Robust Forest Toad or Robust Viviparous Toad (Nectophrynoides viviparus), family Bufonidae, Uluguru mountains, Tanzania

This toad retains the eggs internally, the young go through the tadpole stage in the eggs, and then the froglets emerge from the mother's cloaca... live birth for frogs! A good strategy for arboreal toads.