''Breviceps poweri'', the Power's rain frog or Power's short-headed frog, is a species 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 family

Brevicipitidae Brevicipitidae or rain frogs is a small family of frogs found in eastern and southern Africa. As of 2020 contains 37 species in 5 genera. eb application 2013. Berkeley, CaliforniaBrevicipitidae AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/. ...

. It is found in northeastern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

east through

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, southern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(southern Katanga Province), and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

, to western

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and northeastern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

; possibly in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The specific name ''poweri'' honours

John Hyacinth Power John Hyacinth Power was the second Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa.Wilson, Beryl 2007. Mr John Hyacinth Power: 1884–1964. In Hart, R. (ed) 2007. ''Chapters from the past: 100 years of the McGregor Museum, 1907–2007 ...

, Irish-born director of the

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purpos ...

( Kimberley,

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 ...

) who collected amphibians as well as reptiles and plants.

Behaviour

''Breviceps poweri'' emerge after rain to feed on ants, termites, and other arthropods; reproduction also occurs during the rainy season. ''Breviceps poweri'' males have been observed to start their chorus in the early evening and continue throughout the night. The call is a short, unpulsed whistle, with a slow rise time and a rapid fall time.

Habitat and conservation

''Breviceps poweri'' is a fossorial frog in savanna woodland, shrubland and grassland with sandy soils. Because it breeds by direct development, it is not associated with water. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN) has assessed it as of "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

": it is locally a very common species that occurs in large areas with little human impact, and is present in many protected areas.

References

poweri Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Angola Amphibians of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Amphibians of Malawi Amphibians of Mozambique Amphibians of Zambia Taxa named by Hampton Wildman Parker Amphibians described in 1934 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Brevicipitidae-stub