AmphibiaWeb - Afrixalus crotalus


Afrixalus crotalus Pickersgill, 1984 Zimbabwe Banana Frog, Snoring Spiny Reed Frog	family: Hyperoliidae genus: Afrixalus
Species Description: Pickersgill M. 1984. Three new Afrixalus (Anura: Hyperoliidae) from south-eastern Africa. Durban Mus. Novit. 13: 203–220.
Taxonomic Notes: Pickersgill (1984, Durban Museum Novitates) described A. crotalus and recognized it as a subspecies of A. aureus. More recently, it has been treated as a distinct species by authors such as DuPreez & Carruthers (2017, Frogs of Southern Africa, A Complete Guide), Channing & Rödel (2019, Field Guide to the Frogs & Other Amphibians of Africa), and Lawson et al. (2018, Herpetology Notes). Neither A. aureus or A. crotalus have been included in recent phylogenetic analyses of Afrixalus (e.g., Greenbaum et al., 2022, Zootaxa; Charles et al., 2019, Journal of Biogeography), though the unpublished thesis by Reeder (2019; North-West University) found A. aureus to be sister to A. delicatus.

Conservation Status (definitions)

IUCN Red List Status Account
CITES
National Status	None
Regional Status	None

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Description
A slender, small Afrixalus frog (males 17–24 mm, females 19–26 mm) with reduced asperities and different tibial markings than its close congener A. aureus. Like A. aureus, the gular disc is large, squarish to semitriangular, and weakly granular. A. crotalusshows great geographical variation in pattern, including completely unmarked specimens apart from the lateral band and tibial markings. Tibia with an oblique transverse patch across only part of the exposed surface.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Found in eastern Zimbabwe and Mozambique in savanna habitat (Pickersgill 2007).

References

Pickersgill, M. (2007). Frog Search: Results of Expeditions to Southern and Eastern Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.

Edited by: Michelle S. Koo (2023-11-10)

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2023 Afrixalus crotalus: Zimbabwe Banana Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/9799> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jan 22, 2025.

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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 22 Jan 2025.

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