The common sand frog (''Tomopterna cryptotis'') 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

Pyxicephalidae The Pyxicephalidae are a family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon '' Thaumastosaurus'' lived in Europe. Classification The Pyxicephalidae contain two subfamilies, with a total of 12 genera. This f ...

It is found in dryer (

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

) regions in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is likely a

cryptic species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, and the distribution of the nominal ''Tomopterna cryptotis'' is poorly known.

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 ...

list the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, and Guinea. Common sand frogs, as their name suggests, are common in suitable habitats. They inhabit areas with sandy soils along drainage lines in dry savanna, grassland and in semi-desert conditions. At higher altitudes they also inhabit montane grasslands. They breed in temporary pools, roadside puddles and oases.

References

Tomopterna Frogs of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1907 {{Ranoidea-stub