The Nile Delta toad or Damietta toad (''Amietophrynus kassasii'') is a species of

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...

in the family Bufonidae. 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 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, where it is found from the Nile Delta to as far south as

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s, freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es,

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

s, seasonally flooded agricultural land and

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s and ditches.

Taxonomy

Between 1909 and 1912, several specimens of a small toad species were collected near Alexandria and were sent to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, where they were identified as ''Bufo vittatus'' (now ''

Amietophrynus vittatus ''Sclerophrys vittata'', also known as Degen's toad, banded toad, or Lake Victoria toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Uganda, where it is only known from Lira south to Entebbe and the Bwindi Impenetrable Fores ...

''). No further specimens were found. In 1991, a new species of toad was discovered by Baha el Din near

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...

in the Nile Delta which differed in several particulars from ''B. vittatus'', which is otherwise only known from the vicinity of

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

, and the original identification was called into question. The new species was described in 1993 as ''Bufo kassassii'', and has since been transferred to the genus '' Amietophrynus'' becoming ''Amietophrynus kassasii''.

Description

The Nile Delta toad is a small species, with females growing to a snout-to-vent length of and males to . The upper surface is a greenish-grey colour with dark blotches between the eyes, on the shoulders and hips, and usually a thin white stripe along the spine. The underparts are white, sometimes with dark specks, and the hips can have dark red patches. It has a long snout which is slender when viewed from the side, large distinct

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

(eardrums) and indistinct oval paratoid glands. The skin of the back is somewhat granular or may bear spiny warts, and that on the underside is slightly granular. The first finger of the hand is shorter than the second, most individuals have a red patch on the thigh, and males in breeding condition have an orange vocal sac. These and certain other characteristics distinguish this species from ''A. vittatus'' and from all other toads found in Egypt.

Distribution and habitat

The Nile Delta toad was originally found in the Nile Delta in Egypt. It is a small, nocturnal aquatic species and is seldom seen, although its presence in an area may be known from the distinctive call made by the male. It occurs in swamps, rice fields and clumps of floating vegetation and has spread further upstream as reeds have become established along the margins of the River Nile and the canals associated with it. It is now present in Cairo and as far south as Luxor, where it is said to be abundant.

Status

The Nile Delta toad has a total range of less than , and although it is familiar in dense populations, it is rarely seen. But it has adapted to inhabit rice fields and cultivated land as well as its natural swampy habitat. It is present in several protected areas and faces no particular threats, so the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has listed it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q972820 Amietophrynus Endemic fauna of Egypt Amphibians described in 1993 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN