Description
A medium-sized Hyperolius (female type 29 mm). Males with green dorsum with light dorsolateral lines. Females green, grey or olive. Red-brown canthal area and upper eyelid. Ventrum blue-green, yellow medially. Legs yellow. Dorsum in females green to olive. Ventrum bright green, central part of ventrum and throat yellow. Dorsum and ventrum separated by an irregular greenish-white lateral line. Pupil horizontal (Schiøtz 1999).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Congo, the Democratic Republic of the

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

From transition forests at medium altitudes in eastern R. D. Congo. Kivu from Mount Ruwenzori to Itombwe (Schiøtz 1999). The type locality is at 1,750 m asl (Stuart et al. 2008).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Presumably has larval development in water (Stuart et al. 2008).

Trends and Threats
This species has a restricted range and its forest habitat is increasingly being lost to agriculture, logging, and encroachment by human settlements (Stuart et al. 2008). Although the population trend is unknown, it is thought to be decreasing. It has not been seen since the 1950s, when it was described by Laurent (1950) and a single subsequent specimen was collected in 1954 within Virunga National Park (Laurent 1972).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities
Intensified agriculture or grazing

Comments
First described by Laurent (1950).

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

References

Laurent, R. F. (1950). ''Diagnoses preliminaires de treize batraciens nouveaux d'Afrique centrale.'' Revue de Zoologie et Botanie Africaine, 44, 1-18.

Laurent, R.F. (1972). ''Amphibiens. Exploration du Parc National des Virunga.'' Deuxieme Série, Fascicule, 22, 1-125.

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

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Hyperolius chrysogaster <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/516> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jan 22, 2025.

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

AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.