''Petropedetes parkeri'' 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 found in western

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 ...

and eastern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Records from

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

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 ...

are uncertain, possibly belonging to ''

Petropedetes euskircheni ''Petropedetes'' is a genus of frogs in the family Petropedetidae. In 2002, the genus absorbed all three species of the genus ''Arthroleptides'', but they were moved back in 2014. The informally assigned common name for frogs in this genus (and f ...

''. ''P. parkeri'' is named after

Hampton Wildman Parker Hampton Wildman Parker (5 July 1897 – 2 September 1968) was an English zoologist. Parker was Keeper of Zoology at the Natural History Museum from 1947 to 1957. He is the author of several works on snakes and frogs: Parker discovered a new speci ...

, a British zoologist and herpetologist from the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. Common names Parker's water frog and Parker's torrent frog have been proposed for it.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–urostyle length (SUL); females are on average smaller than males (respectively SUL). The body is robust. The tympanum is distinct, usually larger than the eye in males but always smaller than the eye in females. The snout is short and rounded. The fingers are slender. The toes have rudimentary webbing. The dorsum and the sides are olive or brownish, marbled with diffuse brown-olive spots. The throat is dirty whitish while the belly is whitish, slightly translucent. The

femora The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with t ...

and lower legs have large darker spots divided by thin, bright coloured transversal bars. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

is golden with white-green shades.

Habitat and conservation

Information on the ecology of ''Petropedetes parkeri'' suffers from uncertain species identifications. All confirmed records are from below

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 ...

. It appears to be a forest dweller, although during the breeding season, adults aggregate on humid rocky surfaces near torrents. The eggs are deposited on stones within the splash zone. It is probably suffering from some

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 ...

. It occurs in the

Korup National Park Korup National Park is in the Southwest Province of Cameroon and extends over 1,260 km2 of mostly undisturbed primary forest. It is reputedly one of Africa’s oldest and richest tropical forests in terms of floral and faunal diversity. It is ...

in Cameroon.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2243436 parkeri Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Cameroon Amphibians of West Africa Fauna of Nigeria Amphibians described in 1983 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fauna of the Cameroonian Highlands forests