The brown banana frog (''Afrixalus dorsalis''), also known as the striped spiny reed frog, is an anuran in the family
Hyperoliidae.
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Description
These frogs have a light to dark brown with a silverish white pattern. These patterns can include a triangle on the tip of the snout, a big stripe leading to the groin, a light spot in the lumbar region, and/or 2 light spots on the tibia.
Distribution and habitat
It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
, Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
, Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and possibly Togo.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...
, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forest, ponds, seasonally flooded agricultural land, and canals and ditches.
Conservation
All anurans of the region are under pressure from habitat destruction and the expanding human population; moreover, an extended period of warfare and instability in Angola has hindered regional conservation efforts. However, this species may be one of the few beneficiaries of widespread deforestation, since it thrives in grasslands and degraded former forests.
A high prevalence of '' Batrachochytrium'', the fungus causing chytridiomycosis that has been associated with amphibian declines elsewhere, has been demonstrated in specimens collected from the Okomu National Park
The Okomu National Park, formerly the Okomu Wildlife Sanctuary, is a forest block within the Okomu Forest Reserve in the Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State in Nigeria.
The park is about north west of Benin City.
The park hol ...
in Nigeria.
Lifespan
This frog's lifespan is unknown.
References
* C. Michael Hogan. 2013
''Afrixalus dorsalis''
African Amphibians Lifedesk. ed. B.Zimkus
* World Wildlife Fund & C. M. Hogan. 2007
Angolan Miombo woodlands
Encyclopedia of Earth, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC, ed. M.McGinley.
Afrixalus
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Amphibians described in 1875
Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters
{{Hyperoliidae-stub