Africa Wild

Raucous Toad Sclerophrys capensis
Family: Bufonidae

Tiny juvenile, Franschoek, Western Cape © Lisbeth


Diagnostic Description
Body thickset and robust. Snout blunt. Above olive-grey to brown with pairs of dark patches. Skin rough, covered with wirt-like elevations
Tarsal fold present; back and sides have smooth, distinct, rounded warts with small spines; tympanum just smaller than eye Ø; distance between tympanum and eye twice the tympanum Ø; 1st finger longer than 2nd; subarticular tubercles single, 2 phalanges of 3rd toe free; inner metatarsal tubercle larger than the outer; glands under forearm form a pale ridge; ridge of glands present from jaw to arm; back yellowish-brown to grey; no dark marks on snout; a continuous dark bar between eyes; a thin pale vertebral stripe often present; pairs of dark blotches between eyes to lower back; back of thighs without red patches; underside off-white.

Diagnosis:
No red infusion on legs
No dark patches on snout
Dark patches fused into bar behind eyes

Size
Maximum size: 115 mm. ♂ 65mm ♀ 115mm

Distribution
South Africa, exluding the arid interior.

Habitat
Wooded savanna, grassland, fynbos, farmland (rivers and streams).

Diet
They feed mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Reproduction
Males call from the open near water; strings of dark eggs, 5mm in Ø, are deposited in pools or streams, eggs may number over 10,000 per female. Tadpoles take 2 to 3 months from hatching to complete their metamorphosis.

Advertisement Call
A low-pitched duck-like quack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIbBiR_iSUM

Status
IUCN (Red List) status: Least Concern (LC).

Cape River Frog, Dark-throated River Frog Amietia fuscigula
Family: Pyxicephalidae

All photos taken at Harold Porter Botanical gardens in Betty's Bay, Western Cape in October 2020. © Michele Nel


Description
The Cape River Frog has a particularly wide rounded snout, large, upwardly protruding eyes within the outline of the head, and large tympanums. The hind legs are long and muscular, and the toes are fully webbed. Its skin is smooth, with longitudinal folds on the back.
Colouraion varies from light brownish to olive-green. The specific name fuscigula refers to the dark mottling on the throat. The back is usually marked with darker stripes and spots. The lower lip is mottled, while the upper lip is uniformly dark. There is no dark blotch on the snout.
It may have a yellow or white stripe down the middle of its back. The underside is white.

Size
Male average 75 mm. Female average 90 mm; up to 125 mm.

Distribution
It occurs widely in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, extending up towards Johannesburg and Pretoria.


Reproduction
It can breed at any time of year but most breeding takes place in the rainy season.

Behaviour
They can be heard calling from the reedbeds at night and will sit still at the water's edge for a while when approached. Partially diurnal.

Diet
This very large frog has a reputation for eating anything that moves; feeding primarily on insects, it will also devour mice, other frogs, and crabs.

Call
Their calls are a long series of taps followed by a few harsh kua-kua groans.
http://www.frogbook.co.za/frog-calls.php (no 122)


Links:
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/45331497/113479493
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... 9/download