Trichobatrachus robustus Boulenger, 1900
Hairy Frog | family: Arthroleptidae genus: Trichobatrachus |
Species Description: Boulenger, G. A. (1900). "A list of the batrachians and reptiles of the Gaboon (French Congo), with descriptions of new genera and species." Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1900, 433–456. |
© 2013 Daniel Portik (1 of 37) |
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Description The dorsal coloration is olive-brown, with a broad, dark, black-edged band along the back, sharply defined in front, and forming a black cross-bar between the eyes. The side of the body and limbs are black. The ventral coloration is white, with the females having brown speckling on the throat (Boulenger 1900). Trichobatrachus robustus may be unique among frogs in having sexually dimorphic lungs. Females have a typical anuran lung with a thin, narrow diverticulum on the posterior lung. In males, this diverticulum is robust with circular muscles extending along its length. Noble (1925) used this dimorphism as part of his argument that males required additional surface area of the skin—i.e., the “hairs—for cutaneous respiration. Distribution and Habitat Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria
Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors Trichobatrachus robustus is also remarkable for the presence of subdermal claws in their hind feet that become functional by piercing the ventral skin to be used as a defense mechanism (Durrell 1954; Blackburn et al. 2008). To date, there are no reported observations of advertisement calls in T. robustus (Amiet 2017). Durrell (1960) reported that T. robustus would eat neonate mice in captivity. Trends and Threats Relation to Humans Comments
References
Amiet, J.-L. (1977). ''Les Astylosternus du Cameroun (Amphibia Anura, Astylosterninae).'' Annales de la Faculté des Sciences de Yaoundé, 23/24, 99-227. Amiet, J.-L. (1978). ''A propos d'Hyperolius platyceps Boulenger, H. kuligae Mertens et H. adametzi Ahl (Amphibiens Anoures).'' Annales de la Faculté des Sciences du Cameroun, 25, 221-256. Amiet, J.-L., Goutte, S. (2017). Chants d'amphibiens du Cameroun. Locus Solus Publishing House, Chateaulin, France. [link] Amiet, J.L. (1975). ''Ecologie et distribution des amphibiens anoures de la région de Nkongsamba (Cameroun).'' Annales de la Faculté des Sciences de Yaoundé, 20, 33-107. Blackburn, D. C., Hanken, J., Jenkins Jr, F. A. (2008). "Concealed weapons: erectile claws in African frogs." Biology Letters 4, 355–357. [link] Boulenger, G. A. (1900). ''A list of the batrachians and the reptiles of the Gaboon (French Congo) with descriptions of new genera and species.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1900, 443-456. Burger, M., Branch, W.R., Channing, A. (2004). "Amphibians and reptiles of Monts Doudou, Gabon: Species turnover along an elevational gradient." Monts Doudou, Gabon: A Floral and Faunal Inventory with Reference to Elevational Variation. Fisher, B.L., eds., California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA, 145–186. Channing, A., Rödel, M.-O. (2019). Field Guide to the Frogs and Other Amphibians of Africa. Penguin Random House South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa. Dewynter, M., Frétey, T., Jongsma, G. F. M., Bamba-Kaya, A., Pauwels, O. S. G. (2018). "L’herpétofaune du site Ramsar des Monts Birougou (Gabon): catalogue illustré des espèces." Les Cahiers de la Fondation Biotope, 18, 1–50. [link] Doherty-Bone, T. M., Gvoždík, V. (2017). "The amphibians of Mount Oku, Cameroon: an updated species inventory and conservation review." ZooKeys, 643, 109–139. [link] Dubois, A., A. Ohler, and R. A. Pyron (2021). "New concepts and methods for phylogenetic taxonomy and nomenclature in zoology, exemplified by a new ranked cladonomy of recent amphibians (Lissamphibia)." Megataxa, 5, 158-161. [link] Durrell, G. (1954). The Bafut Beagles. Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd., London, UK. Durrell, G. (1960). A Zoo in My Luggage. Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd., London, UK. Ernst, R., Nienguesso, A.B.T., Lautenschläger, T., Barej, M.F., Schmitz, A., Hölting, M. (2014). "Relicts of a forested past: southernmost distribution of the hairy frog genus Trichobatrachus Boulenger, 1900 (Anura: Arthroleptidae) in the Serra do Pingano region of Angola with comments on its taxonomic status." Zootaxa, 3779, 297–300. [link] Gonwouo, L. N., Rödel, M. O. (2008). "The importance of frogs to the livelihood of the Bakossi people around Mount Manengouba, Cameroon, with special consideration of the Hairy Frog, Trichobatrachus robustus." Salamandra, 44, 23–34. [link] Hermann, H.-W., and Herrmann, P.A. (2002). ''Herpetological conservation at the Cologne Zoo.'' Herpetological Review, 33(3), 168-169. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. (2017). "Trichobatrachus robustus." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T54443A18361006. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T54443A18361006.en. Accessed on 03 February 2022. Lasso, C.A., Rial, A.I., Castroviejo, J., De la Riva, I. (2002). ''Herpetofauna del Parque Nacional de Monte Alén (Río Muni, Guinea Ecuatorial).'' Graellsia, 58(2), 21–34. [link] Laurent, R. (1940). "Trois interessants Batraciens recoltes par M. Vleeschovwers an Mayombe." Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines, 33, 279–281. Lea, J. M., Luiselli, L., Politano, E. (2005). "Are there shifts in amphibian faunal composition in Nigerian landscapes undergoing long-term degradation? A case study from a montane environment." Revue d'écologie, 60, 65–76. [link] Noble, G. K. (1925). ''The integumentary, pulmonary, and cardiac modifications correlated with increased cutaneous respiration in the Amphibia: a solution of the 'hairy frog' problem.'' Journal of Morphology and Physiology, 40(2), 341-416. Onadeko, A. B., Rodel, M. O., Egonmwan, R. I., Saliu, J. K. (2010). "Herpetological surveys of south-western and south-eastern regions of Nigeria." Zoologist, 8, 34–43. [link] Parker, H.W. (1936). "The amphibians of the Mamfe Division, Cameroon. I. Zoogeography and systematics." Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 106, 135-163. Perret, J.-L. (1966). ''Les amphibiens du Cameroun.'' Zoologische Jahrbücher für Systematik, 8, 289-464. Perret, J.-L. and Mertens, R. (1957). ''Étude d’une collection herpétologique faite au Cameroun de 1952 á 1955.'' Bulletin de l’Institut fondamental d’Afrique noire, Série A, 19, 548-601. Portik, D. M., Jongsma, G. F. M., Kouete, M. T., Scheinberg, L. A., Freiermuth, B., Tapondjou, W. P., Blackburn, D. C. (2016). "A survey of amphibians and reptiles in the foothills of Mount Kupe, Cameroon." Amphibian & Reptile Conservation, 10, 37–67. [link] Rahman, M. M., Nneji, L. M., Adeniyi, A. C., Chen, J., Eniang, E. A., Oladipo, S. O., Olatunde, O., Onadeko, A. B., Kilunda, F. K., Ayoola, A. O., Adedeji, B. E., Nneji, I. C., Akwaowo, N. U., Ugwumba, A. A. A., Jin, J.-Q., Yin, T., Peng, M.-S., Olory, C., Eninekit, N., Che, J. (2020). "Amphibian assemblages and diversity patterns in two forest ecosystems of South-Eastern Nigeria." African Journal of Ecology, 58, 815–827. [link] Robischon, M. (2017). "Surface-area-to-volume ratios, fluid dynamics & gas diffusion: four frogs & their oxygen flux." The American Biology Teacher, 79(1), 64–67. [link] Rodel, M. O., Pauwels, O. S. (2003). "A new Leptodactylodon species from Gabon (Amphibia: Anura: Astylosternidae)." Salamandra, 39, 139–148. [link] Schiøtz, A. (1963). ''The amphibians of Nigeria.'' Vedenskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening, 125, 1-92. Originally submitted by: David C. Blackburn (first posted 2002-11-14) Description by: Michelle S. Koo, Kaitlin E. Allen, Magali Zoungrana, David C. Blackburn (updated 2022-04-27)
Distribution by: Kaitlin E. Allen, Magali Zoungrana, David C. Blackburn (updated 2022-04-27)
Life history by: Kaitlin E. Allen, Magali Zoungrana, David C. Blackburn (updated 2022-04-27)
Trends and threats by: Kaitlin E. Allen, Magali Zoungrana, David C. Blackburn (updated 2022-04-27)
Relation to humans by: Kaitlin E. Allen, Magali Zoungrana, David C. Blackburn (updated 2022-04-27)
Comments by: Kaitlin E. Allen, Magali Zoungrana, David C. Blackburn (updated 2022-04-27)
Edited by: Kellie Whittaker, Ann T. Chang (2022-04-27) Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2022 Trichobatrachus robustus: Hairy Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1506> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Oct 31, 2024.
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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 31 Oct 2024. AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use. |