''Phrynobatrachus elberti'' 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

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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

and only known from its type locality, Bouala (originally spelled "Buala"), at

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 ...

on the

Ouham River The Ouham River is a river in Central Africa, and one of the main headwaters of the Chari River. The Ouham originates in the Central African Republic between the prefecture Nana-Mambéré and the prefecture Ouham-Pendé, crossing into Chad where i ...

. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''elberti'' honours Johannes Elbert, a German naturalist who visited

Kamerun Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern p ...

in 1914. Common name Elbert's river frog has been coined for this species.

Taxonomy

''Phrynobatrachus elberti'' was described as ''Hylarthroleptis elberti'' by German zoologist

Ernst Ahl Christoph Gustav Ernst Ahl (1 September 1898 – 14 February 1945) was a German Zoology, zoologist, born in Berlin. He was the director of the department of ichthyology and herpetology in the Museum für Naturkunde. He was also the editor in chi ...

in 1925 based on seventeen

syntype In biological nomenclature, a syntype is any one of two or more biological types that is listed in a description of a taxon where no holotype was designated. Precise definitions of this and related terms for types have been established as part of ...

s. It was transferred to ''Phrynobatrachus'' in 1938 by . There are doubts about its taxonomic validity.

Description

''Phrynobatrachus elberti'' resembles ''

Phrynobatrachus graueri ''Phrynobatrachus graueri'' is a species of frog in the family Phrynobatrachidae. It is found in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and western Kenya. The specific name ''graueri'' honours Rudolf Grauer, Austrian explorer ...

'' and ''

Phrynobatrachus brongersmai ''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 ...

'', but has interorbital space that is about twice as wide as the upper eyelid.

Ecology

There are no observations of this species after its discovery, and its ecology is essentially unknown.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2245523 elberti Frogs of Africa Amphibians of the Central African Republic Endemic fauna of the Central African Republic Amphibians described in 1925 Taxa named by Ernst Ahl Taxonomy articles created by Polbot