AmphibiaWeb - Kassina fusca
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(Translations may not be accurate.)

Kassina fusca Schiøtz, 1967
family: Hyperoliidae
genus: Kassina

© 2015 Alberto Sanchez-Vialas (1 of 6)

  hear call (851.4K MP3 file)
  hear call (9375.1K WAV file)

[call details here]

Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN Red List Status Account Least Concern (LC)
CITES No CITES Listing
National Status None
Regional Status None

   

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Description
A small (29-33 mm) brown Kassina from the West African savanna. Dorsum with scattered, sometimes indistinct small darker spots with a larger, irregular, X-shaped spot in the shoulder region. Small discs on fingers. It is an inconspicuous terrestrial species, walking rather than jumping. It appears to be the only member of the genus with brown rather than grey/black colours. It also differs from other members of the family in having a tarsal tubercle.
Voice. - At the type locality males were heard calling from drier, higher ground near large flooded meadows. The voice is a typical Kassina call but distinctly more atonal that that of K. senegalensis and K. cassinoides. Accordingly the sonogram shows a more indistinct frequency-intensity maximum than that of the other two sympatric species.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
Only known from very few localities, probably due to its inconspicuous behaviour. The type locality is a large, partly flooded meadow in open savanna in northern Ghana. Known from eastern Côte d'Ivoire to northern Nigeria and south-western Niger (Drewes), but may well be distributed further west and east.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Development. - 500-600 eggs with a black and a white pole are attached to stones or plants in the water. The tadpoles are similar to those of K. senegalensis, but smaller and with a lower tail fin. Tooth formula 1/1+1,1 or 1/2+2.

Comments
This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.

References

Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.



Originally submitted by: Arne Schiøtz (first posted 2001-01-30)
Edited by: Kellie Whittaker (2008-09-10)

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2008 Kassina fusca <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/3687> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Mar 28, 2024.



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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 28 Mar 2024.

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