Filfil Slippery Frog

general

This species is named after Signor Nello Beccari, who discovered it (Boulenger 1911).

African Amphibians

general

This species was originally described as Rana beccarii (Boulenger 1911).

African Amphibians

morphology

Vomerine teeth appear to be absent from most specimens of Conraua beccarii (Scortecci 1931, Spanò 1971), although Boulenger (1911) found that they may be very subtly present in two groups just behind the level of the small choanae. The head is substantially depressed and may be 2.5-3.0 times wider than it is long, and the snout is broadly rounded. The canthus rostralis is indistinct, the loreal region is grooved, and the distance from the nostrils to the orbits is slightly less than or equal to the distance from the nostrils to the tip of the snout. The eyes are supero-lateral, and the interorbital space is as broad as or slightly broader than the upper eyelid. The tympanum is hidden externally (Boulenger 1911, Scortecci 1931, Spanò 1971). The fingers are moderately long, with slightly swollen tips and a distinct narrow dermal margin on the first and fifth fingers. The subarticular tubercles are well developed. The first finger is shorter than the second, and the fourth finger is slightly shorter than the third. The tibio-tarsal articulation reaches the commissure of the mouth in females, and extends to the posterior margin of the eye in males and juveniles. The tibia is conta

African Amphibians

morphology

Clarke (1981) gives a thorough comparative analysis of many osteological characters between Conraua and several other African ranine frog genera, including several characters in which C. beccarii differs from the other members of its genus. In particular, in this species, the zygomatic ramus is “much longer than [the] otic ramus, curving down towards the maxilla but not articulating with it; [with] the distal end of the zygomatic ramus curving upward, away from the maxilla” (Clarke 1981). This character appears to be unique to Conraua beccarii and therefore represent an autapomorphy. The pterygoid process of the maxilla is “moderately developed, and slightly overlapping or abutting [the] anterior ramus of [the] pterygoid” (Clarke 1981), unlike the other Conraua species, which lack the pterygoid process of the maxilla entirely. Finally, the terminal phalanges of the fingers are “simple [and] knob-like” distally, with the toes slightly T-shaped, and “the anterior distal border of the phalanx perpendicular to the axis” with no median notch (Clarke 1981).

African Amphibians