''Mertensophryne'' is a genus of

true toad A true toad is any member of the family Bufonidae, in the order Anura (frogs and toads). This is the only family of anurans in which all members are known as toads, although some may be called frogs (such as harlequin frogs). The bufonids now ...

s (family Bufonidae). They are found in eastern and southern

Democratic Republic of 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 ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands 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 northeast ...

, southeastern

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 Mozam ...

, and adjacent

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 ...

. Their common names include snouted frogs, Chirinda forest toads, and forest toads. The genus is named for

Robert Mertens Robert Friedrich Wilhelm Mertens (1 December 1894 – 23 August 1975) was a German herpetologist. Several taxa of reptiles are named after him.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore ...

, German zoologist and herpetologist.

Taxonomy

''Mertensophryne'', as currently understood, consist of the former ''"Bufo" taitanus'' group and the genera ''Mertensophryne'' (as formerly defined) and ''Stephopaedes''. The latter is

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

and still recognized as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

. The closest relatives of ''Mertensophryne'' remain uncertain but probably include ''

Poyntonophrynus ''Poyntonophrynus'', also known as pygmy toads, are a genus consisting of ten true toad species native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Originally, all ''Poyntonophrynus'' species were included in the genus ''Bufo''. The genus was split due to large enough ...

'', '' Vandijkophrynus'', and ''

Capensibufo ''Capensibufo'' is a genus of true toads commonly known as Cape toads or mountain toadlets. They are found in the Republic of South Africa from Breede River to north of Knysna, Western Cape Province The Western Cape is a province of South A ...

''.

Description

''Mertensophryne'' lack tympanum and

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

. They frequently show digit reduction. They are relatively small frogs; among the ten species studied by Liedtke and colleagues, the maximum female snout–vent length varied between . Eggs are relatively large, in diameter, and few in number (maximum 35–188).

Species

There are 14 recognized species:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q282403 Amphibian genera Amphibians of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot