Description
A small, slender savanna Afrixalus frog (males 15-21 mm, females 17-25 mm), from eastern Africa. The gular disc is rounded to transversely oval and weakly granular. Dorsal asperities very weak, none on tibia, generally confined to head and anterior dorsum in the subspecies A. s. stuhlmanni, but abundant in the subspecies A. s. brachycnemis. Ventrally, asperities confined to the mentum. Above silvery yellow with a dark lateral band. There is a pair of slightly convergent dark lines from the rump over the back to between the eyes. Tibia has a dark band along its lower exposed surface and often an isolated longitudinally-biased dark streak in the lighter area.

The subspecies A. s. brachycnemis has a more variable pattern (Pickersgill 2007 recognized two subspecies: A. s. stuhlmanni and A. s. brachycnemis but see the latter's species account.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, United Republic of, Zambia

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Occurs from coastal Kenya to lowland eastern Tanzania. Prefer grassy pools and marshes in humid shrubland, mixed farmland and savanna (IUCN 2006).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species breeds in marshes, shrub-dominated wetlands, and permanent pools (IUCN 2006). The voice is a series of high-pitched clicks (Pickersgill 2007).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

Urbanization
Local pesticides, fertilizers, and pollutants

Comments
This species is referred to as Afrixalus sp. in older publications (Schiøtz 1974; Schiøtz 1999; Poynton and Broadley 1987). It was split by Pickersgill (2005) into two subspecies: A. s. stuhlmanni from coastal Kenya to lowland eastern Tanzania, and A. s. brachycnemis from Malawi and eastern Zambia. Poynton (2006) regards the two as distinct species, so please see the species account for A. brachycnemis

References

IUCN, Conservation International, and NatureServe. 2006. Global Amphibian Assessment: Afrixalus stuhlmanni. www.globalamphibians.org. Accessed on 23 August 2008.

Pickersgill, M. (2005). ''The taxonomy and ethology of the Afrixalus stuhlmanni complex (Anura: Hyperoliidae).'' Steenstrupia, 29(1), 1-38.

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

Poynton, J. (2006). ''On dwarf spiny reedfrogs in Tanzanian eastern lowlands (Anura : Afrixalus) : short communication.'' African Journal of Herpetology, 55(2), 167-169.

Poynton, J. C. and Broadley, D. G. (1987). ''Amphibia Zambesiaca 3. Rhacophoridae and Hyperoliidae.'' Annals of the Natal Museum, 28, 161-229.

Schiøtz, A. (1974). ''Revision of the genus Afrixalus (Anura) in Eastern Africa.'' Vedenskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening, 137, 9-18.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2023 Afrixalus stuhlmanni <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/466> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed May 31, 2025.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 31 May 2025.

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