Strongylopus cf. fuelleborni (Nieden, 1911)

Conradie, Werner, Bittencourt-Silva, Gabriela B., Engelbrecht, Hanlie M., Loader, Simon P., Menegon, Michele, Nanvonamuquitxo, Cristovao, Scott, Michael & Tolley, Krystal A., 2016, Exploration into the hidden world of Mozambique's sky island forests: new discoveries of reptiles and amphibians, Zoosystematics and Evolution 92 (2), pp. 163-180 : 169

Strongylopus cf. fuelleborni (Nieden, 1911)

Material

Mt. Mabu ( PEM A11184 , male, 35.5 mm SUL; PEM A1185, male, 36.3 mm SUL; PEM A11186 , male, 35.3 mm SUL; PEM A11857 , male, 37.3 mm SUL, PEM T691), Mt. Namuli ( PEM 11352 , juvenile, 27.9 mm SUL; PEM A11353 , female, 49.8 mm SUL; PEM A11357 , female, 49.1 mm SUL; PEM A11358 , female, 49.9 mm SUL; PEM A11359 , female, 43.6 mm SUL) .

Comments

Part of the Strongylopus faciatus group that has seen two newly described species in recent years ( Channing and Davenport 2002, Clarke and Poynton 2005). Mercurio (2011) assign Strongylopus from Mt. Mulanje to Strongylopus merumontanus . While Poynton (2004) don’t list them from southern Malawi and rather refer to them as Strongylopus fuelleborni . The phylogenetic affinities of our newly sampled population are unknown and additional work will be necessary to clarify its taxonomic status. For now, we assign them to Strongylopus fuelleborni . Adult specimens and tadpoles were found along a high-elevation stream in a patch of Afromontane forest at Mt. Mabu (Fig. 3G ). Specimens from Mt. Namuli were collected along marshy areas in montane grassland.

Figures

Figure 3. A selection of amphibians from northern Mozambique inselbergs. A - Arthroleptis francei (Mt. Namuli, PEM A 11303), B - Arthroleptis xenodactyloides (Mt. Mabu), C - Arthroleptis stenodactylus (Mt. Mabu), D - Amietia delalandii (Mt. Namuli, PEM A 11319), E - Nothophryne cf. broadleyi (Mt. M'paluwe, PEM A 11370), F - Nothophryne cf. broadleyi (Mt. Namuli), G - Strongylopus cf. fuelleborni (Mt. Mabu, PEM A 11184), H - Scolecomorphus cf. kirkii (Mt. Mabu, PEM A 11248).