''Petropedetes palmipes'' is a species of

frog 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 ...

in the family

Petropedetidae The Petropedetidae are a family of frogs containing three genera and 12 species. They are found in sub-Saharan tropical Africa and are sometimes known under common name African torrent frogs. They are inhabitants of the splash-water zone of cle ...

. It is known from a few localities in southwestern

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

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 ...

, and western

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

. Common name Efulen water frog has been coined for it.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–urostyle length. The body is robust. The snout is relatively more pointed than in other ''Petropedetes''. The tympanum is very small and indistinct whereas the supratympanic fold is distinct. The fingers are slender and have typically T-shaped tips. The fingers have no webbing whereas the toes are fully webbed. The dorsum is uniformly dark green and black with some tiny pale spots. Adults can be glossy black and difficult to see among wet stones. The upper hinds limbs have faint crossbars. The throat is whitish or dark marbled. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s are flat-bodied with large eyes and a long, pointed tail. They are grey, turning darker with age, but translucent ventrally. The largest tadpoles are in total length.

Habitat and conservation

''Petropedetes palmipes'' occurs in rocky areas in lowland forest, usually near flowing water, at elevations up to

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The eggs are clued to rocks outside water, although eggs and tadpoles have also been found submerged. ''Petropedetes palmipes'' is a rare species that does not tolerate much modification of its forest habitat. It is, presumably, threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

caused by agriculture, logging and human settlements. It is found in the

Monte Alen National Park Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Mont ...

in Equatorial Guinea and in the

Crystal Mountains National Park Crystal Mountains National Park (french: Parc National des Monts de Cristal) is a twin park and one of the 13 national parks of Gabon. It is situated in the Monts de Crystal on the western edge of the Woleu-Ntem Plateau, between Equatorial Gui ...

in Gabon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2243743 palmipes Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Cameroon Amphibians of Equatorial Guinea Amphibians of Gabon Amphibians described in 1905 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger Taxonomy articles created by Polbot