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Despite a relatively broad distribution in Africa, the Spotted Rubber Frog, Phrynomantis affinis, is extremely rarely encountered. Only 18 specimens from 12 localities have been collected with a few additional observations recorded. Virtually nothing of the species' natural history is known. We report or summarise new localities and range extensions of P. affinis in Namibia and Zambia and describe the call for the first time. We also compare its call to that of the sister species, P. bifasciatus, describing this call for the first time and noting a considerable range extension. The calls show several key differences, with P. affinis calls generally having a lower dominant frequency, pulse repetition rate, and number of pulses than P. bifasciatus. The calls of Namibian and Zambian P. affinis also show marked differences. These descriptions add valuable natural history information for both species and will considerably improve the field detection of the enigmatic P. affinis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is implicated in global declines of amphibian populations and has been documented in African specimens originally collected as far back as the 1930s. Numerous recent surveys focusing on regional pathogen prevalence have greatly increased the number of known occurrences of Bd in African species, but few studies have focused on continental distribution patterns. We analyzed all known positive occurrences of Bd in African amphibians to date, including newly reported data from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Namibia, and the Republic of the Congo. Records from both Namibia and the Republic of the Congo reported herein represent first positive occurrences for these countries. With this most comprehensive sampling of the African continent to date we identified patterns of Bd-positive occurrences associated with (1) location (i.e., biogeographic region, country), (2) taxonomy, (3) life history, and (4) threat of extinction. We used fine-grained (30 arc seconds) environmental niche models (ENMs) to predict the continental distribution of Bd and identify hotspots for the pathogen, including areas not previously modeled to have high suitability for the fungus, and areas of high amphibian biodiversity from which Bd has not yet been documented. Our ENMs predicted that the environmentally suitable range of Bd encompasses vast areas of high amphibian biodiversity, including the Congo Basin and the Albertine Rift. Although our ENMs indicated that West Africa is environmentally suitable for Bd, the fungus has not been reported west of the Dahomey Gap. Likewise, the ENMs also identified regions across the Congo Basin and coastal Angola that are environmentally suitable for the pathogen but from which Bd has not yet been reported, underscoring a need for Bd surveys in these regions. Although amphibian declines in Africa have not been directly attributed to chytridiomycosis, Bd has been detected in over one fifth of the most-threatened African amphibians. Given the presence of the hypervirulent Bd global panzootic lineage (BdGPL) in Africa, we believe that the threat of Bd as a novel pathogen may be underestimated and that focused research is urgently needed to identify which species are susceptible to Bd-driven declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study on the advertisement call, breeding biology, description of the tadpole and taxonomic status of Bufo dombensis dwarf toad at Ongongo Waterfall, Namibia. Methodology of the study; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Four species of African bullfrogs are currently recognised. We describe a new species from southern Africa, which can be distinguished on the basis of morphology, advertisement call and DNA sequences. Morphologically it differs from other bullfrogs by a combination of characteristics including a tympanum that is smaller or equal in size to the eye, and smaller in diameter than the space between eye and tympanum, presence of a white dot on the tympanum, longitudinal skin ridges with speckling between dorsal mottles, pale vertebral line usually present, absence of cream coloured lateral stripes, absence of a pale interorbital-bar, upper jaw-barring absent or faint. It has been confirmed from north-eastern Namibia, southern Angola and north-western Botswana. Three further undescribed species are recognised but not formally named, pending further investigation. We confirm the genetic distinctiveness of P. angusticeps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deckert described a Tomopterna as Arthroleptella ahli from South Africa in 1938. We demonstrate that the type of Tomopterna ahli (Deckert, 1938) was actually collected in Namibia, and that this nomen is a senior synonym of Tomopterna damarensis Dawood Channing, 2002. We designate a neotype for Tomopterna ahli (Deckert, 1938).

Tomopterna branchi sp. nov. is described from Namaqualand, South Africa. It differs from all other Tomopterna species by advertisement call, 16S rRNA sequence and consistent differences in adult morphology. The tadpole is similar to that of Tomopterna cryptotis. Haplotype networks of 16S and the nuclear tyr gene show that it is distinct from T. delalandii, with which it has been confused. A phylogeny of the genus, excluding the little-known T. monticola, shows that the new species is basal to a clade that includes T. delalandii and six other species. We extend the known range of T. damarensis to southern Namibia, and correct the identification of some GenBank material.