''Breviceps carruthersi'' or the Phinda rain frog or Carruthers' rain frog
is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
in the ''
Breviceps'' genus endemic to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.
The Phinda rain frog is also known as
Isinana sakwaPhinda in
IsiZulu
Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...
which is the local language spoken in this species' native range. An IsiZulu description of this
anuran
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
amphibian species appears in a
field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...
called
A Bilingual Guide to the Frogs of Zululand. This frog was first described by Professor Louis H. du Preez, Doctor Edward C. Netherlands, and Professor Les Minter in 2017, and they named it in honour of the naturalist and author Vincent Caruthers.
Description
The ''Breviceps carruthersi'' like most other frogs in its
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
has a round body and an almost invisible snout the animals color ranged from dark brown to orange the frog has short limb which help it burrow and it has no webbing on its toes it also appears to have a black stripe under its eyelid.
Distribution and Habitat
The ''Breviceps carruthersi'' is confided to one location Hluhluwe, Northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa at elevations from 88 m to 123 m.
Even there the frog is rare as it is nocturnal and inhabits forest areas making it difficult to find.
References
carruthersi
Amphibians described in 2017
Endemic amphibians of South Africa
{{Brevicipitidae-stub