''Phrynobatrachus bequaerti'' 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

Phrynobatrachidae ''Phrynobatrachus'' is a genus of Sub-Saharan frogs that form the monogeneric family Phrynobatrachidae. Their common name is puddle frogs, dwarf puddle frogs, African puddle frogs, or African river frogs. The common name, puddle frog, refers to ...

. It is found in the mountains of north-western Burundi, eastern

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 ...

, and western Rwanda. The specific name ''bequaerti'' honours Joseph Charles Bequaert, a Belgian botanist, entomologist, and malacologist and who collected the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

from Mount Vissoke. Common name Vissoke river frog has been coined for this species.

Description

Specimens in the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

measure in snout–vent length; the largest specimens are all females. The snout is rounded. The tympanum is very distinct. The fingers have no webbing whereas the toes are about one-third webbed; the tips of the digits are slightly dilated. Skin has many small but prominent spiny tubercles. The dorsum is uniform brown, except for chocolate-brown vertebral stripe present in about half of individuals. The lower parts vary from almost immaculate white to having few drown spots to dusky mottling or vermiculation.

Habitat and conservation

''Phrynobatrachus bequaerti'' lives in montane forests, grasslands, and wetlands at elevations of above sea level. Breeding presumably takes place in swamps. It seems to be common in suitable habitat, although populations appear to be declining, and only a single specimen was found from the Nyungwe Forest National Park during surveys in 2010–2011. The species is suffering from

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 ...

and degradation caused by expanding agriculture, grazing of livestock, timber extraction, and expanding human settlements. It is recorded from the

Virunga National Park , iucn_category = II , iucn_ref = , location = Democratic Republic of the Congo , map = Democratic Republic of the Congo , relief = 1 , coordinates = , area = , established = , nearest_city = Goma , photo =Virunga National Park-107997 ...

(Democratic Republic of Congo) and the

Volcanoes National Park Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga N ...

(Rwanda).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2697549 bequaerti Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Burundi Amphibians of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Amphibians of Rwanda Taxa named by Thomas Barbour Taxa named by Arthur Loveridge Amphibians described in 1929 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot