#warty frog

[herpsandbirds]

Nguru Warty Frog (Callulina meteora), family Brevicipitidae, endemic to the Nguru Mountains in Tanzania

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

I know this frog looks fake but I swear that its real!

photographs by Jacopo Martino 

[herpsandbirds]

Hansen's Warty Frog (Callulina hanseni), family Brevicipitidae, endemic to the Nguru South Mountains of Tanzania

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

photographs: John Lyakurwa & Joseph Mboya

[herpsandbirds]

Nguru Warty Frog (Callulina meteora), family Brevicipitidae, endemic to the Nguru South Forest Reserve in Tanzania

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

photograph by Joseph Mboya

[herpsandbirds]

Krefft's Warty Frog (Callulina kreffti), family Brevicipitidae, Korogwe, Tanzania

photograph by pbertner

[herpsandbirds]

Krefft’s Warty Frog (Callulina kreffti), family Brevicipitidae, Tanzania

photograph by Arjan Huitsing

[herpsandbirds]

Krefft's Warty Frog (Callulina kreffti), family Brevicipitidae, Korogwe, Tanzania

photograph by John Lyakurwa 

[libutron]

Undescribed Warty Frog of the genus Callulina found in Tanzania

The Brevicipitidae family is a group of highly rotund frogs from Africa that usually have burrowing lifestyles and a highly characteristic appearance, with a bulbous body and tiny head. They started to evolve separately from all other modern amphibians about 65 million years ago, at a time when the dinosaur abruptly became extinct. This makes them as different from all other amphibians as whales are to giraffes! 

The genus Callulina, commonly known as the “warty frogs”, diverged 40 million years ago within the Brevicipitids – this intra-family split therefore occurred about 5 million years before the origin of monkeys. 

For nearly 100 years since the discovery of the first warty frog (Callulina kreffti), this genus was presumed to be monotypic (containing only a single species). However, currently there are nine species described into the genus.

The nine nominal species in the genus Callulina, are almost entirely restricted to submontane and montane forest of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania and in southern Kenya, six of which are classified as Critically Endangered, and one is listed as Endangered.

The specimen pictured, found this 2014 in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, does not correspond to any of the described species and it could be a new species.

References: [1] - [2] - [3] - [4]

Photo credit: ©Stephen Zozaya | Locality: Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (2014) | [Top] - [Bottom]