''Phrynobatrachus inexpectatus'' 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 southern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It is known with confidence from only three localities, but it may be more widely distributed in the Ethiopian Highlands. The specific name ''inexpectatus'' refers to the unexpected discovery of this species among museum specimens assigned to ''

Phrynobatrachus minutus ''Phrynobatrachus minutus'' is a species of frog in the family Phrynobatrachidae. It is endemic to Ethiopia and occurs in the central and southern parts of the country on both sides of the Rift Valley; its range may extend south to Kenya, perhap ...

''. Common names unexpected puddle frog and Largen's dwarf puddle frog have been coined for it.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The tympanum is present but almost or completely hidden under the skin. The toes have feeble webbing and lack terminal discs. Dorsal skin is sometimes smooth but usually has warts in varying degree of number and prominence, most evidently on the upper flanks, posterior back, and hind limbs. Alcohol-preserved specimens are dorsally grey-brown; a paler vertebral line, stripe, or broad mid-dorsal band may be present. Dorsal pattern usually consists of very obscure blotching, spotting, and freckling. Adult males have strongly darkened throat, whereas throat of females is more or less profusely sprinkled with

melanophore Chromatophores are cells that produce color, of which many types are pigment-containing cells, or groups of cells, found in a wide range of animals including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans and cephalopods. Mammals and birds, in contrast, ...

s, either uniformly or clustered to form mottling or vermiculation.

Habitat and conservation

''Phrynobatrachus inexpectatus'' 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 has been found amongst herbaceous vegetation at the margins of pools in open areas inside forests, and in a heavily grazed marshy area of extensively cultivated habitat where only remnants of former forest cover remained; whether this indicates tolerance to habitat disturbance or residual persistence is unknown. Breeding takes place in pools and marshes. Habitat degradation is a likely threat to this species. It is present in the

Bale Mountains National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. The park encompasses an area of approximately in the Bale Mountains and Sanetti Plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands. The park's Afromontane habitats have one of the highest incid ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2243071 inexpectatus Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Ethiopia Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Amphibians described in 2001 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot