''Phrynobatrachus stewartae'', also known as the Stewart's puddle frog or Stewart's river frog, is a species of frog in the family Phrynobatrachidae. It is found in northern Malawi and south-central and western Tanzania. 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 ...

''stewartae'' honours Margaret M. Stewart, an American herpetologist who wrote "Amphibians of Malawi" (1967) and collected 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 the ...

, originally identified as ''

Phrynobatrachus gutturosus ''Phrynobatrachus gutturosus'', the Chabanaud's river frog or guttural puddle frog, is a species of frog in the family Petropedetidae. It is found in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, possibly Benin, possibl ...

''.

Description

Males can grow to and females to in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

. The finger and toe tips are not expanded into discs. The toes are broadly webbed. The femoral glands are elongated and flattened, and conspicuous yellow in males. Males have a baggy vocal sac with a clear posterior flap. The upper and lower jaws are barred. The gular region is greyish in males but speckled in females.

Habitat and conservation

''Phrynobatrachus stewartae'' occurs in marshy areas in dry forest and grassland at elevations of

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 is especially found in areas where aquatic vegetation is present. Breeding presumably takes place in marshes and well-vegetated, standing bodies of water. Its habitat in Tanzania is threatened by habitat degradation caused by conversion to agriculture or by overharvesting. While it exhibits a degree of tolerance to modified habitats, it is poorly understood to what extent this species is threatened by expanding agriculture. It is present in the Mulenge Forest Reserve and the Katavi National Park, and it is likely to occur in the

Nyika National Park Nyika National Park is Malawi’s largest national park, with an area of 3200 km2 (1250 mile2). Location and road access The park covers practically the whole of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, about 480 km north of Lilongwe and 60 km ...

that is close to its type locality.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2243338 stewartae Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Malawi Amphibians of Tanzania Taxa named by Donald George Broadley Amphibians described in 1985 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot