Mantidactylus sp
—
unidentified species
In 2022, Scherz et al described a bunch of new Mantidactylus species. One of these, Mantidactylus katae, can only be reliably distinguished from the previously described species M. betsileanus by DNA or by looking at the underside. Both species can be found in the area around Andasibe and at Ranomafana, which are the only places I've seen candidates. The frogs on this page seem like they are one or the other of these two species.
Compared to some of the other widely assorted frogs we saw at Ranomafana, this one was fairly drab. But at least it was willing to sit still indefinitely for me, which is a very helpful trait when there are so many similar species in Madagascar. I'm still not completely sure that I got the identification right, but the general shape, granular skin forming irregular ridges, coloration, and faint trace of a light spot on the tip of the snout are all indicative of M. betsileanus and its lookalike M. katae. I'd be more confident if the the light spot on the tip of the snout were much more obvious; I think it's there when studying the closeups but I'm not sure.
Here is a list of all the reptiles and frogs I saw on this 2007 trip to Madagascar.
Another pair of inconspicuous brown frogs; as far as I can tell they are either M. betsileanus or M. katae, and I will never know which.
Yet another ambiguous frog. The small size of the white dot on the snout makes me lean towards M. katae, but not enough to be confident.
And yet another, from a week later when we briefly revisited the area.
Online references:
- Mark D. Scherz, Angelica Crottini, Carl R. Hutter, Andrea Hildenbrand, Franco Andreone, Thio Rosin Fulgence, Gunther Köhler, Serge Herilalandriantsoa, Annemarie Ohler, Michaela Preick, Andolalao Rakotoarison, Loïs Rancilhac, Achille P. Raselimanana, Jana C. Riemann, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Gonçalo M. Rosa, Jeffrey W. Streicher, David R. Vieites, Jörn Köhler, Michael Hofreiter, Frank Glaw & Miguel Vences An inordinate fondness for inconspicuous brown frogs- integration of phylogenomics, archival DNA analysis, morphology, and bioacoustics yields 24 new taxa in the subgenus Brygoomantis (genus Mantidactylus) from Madagascar
Printed references:
- Glaw, F., Vences, M. 2007. A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, Third Edition
- Glaw, F., Vences, M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, Second Edition