Leptopelis rufus Reichenow, 1874  

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Habitat and Ecology:

Habitat and Ecology

It is an arboreal species of humid lowland rainforest, occurring in secondary forest, but not normally out degraded vegetation outside forest. It breeds in streams, the eggs presumably are laid in nests on land close to the water.

Systems

  • Terrestrial
  • Freshwater
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56280

IUCN Red List Assessment:
Red List Category

LC
Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2004
  • Needs updating

Assessor/s

Arne Schitz, Jean-Louis Amiet, Marius Burger, Thierry Fretey

Reviewer/s

Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson and Neil Cox)

Contributor/s

Justification

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, its presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56280

Population:

Population

It is a reasonably common species.

Population Trend

Decreasing
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56280

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors:

The males call from branches in the forest or from Raphia palms, most often above small streams. The call is a series - about ten - long cries "yiin". An analysis shows that the single call has a duration of about 0.3 sec and consists of a large number of harmonics, about 500 cps. apart, with a strongly varying frequency, perhaps a case of frequency modulation otherwise rare in frogs.

Apart from this, Amiet has observed another call when a male approaches a female. It is a series of quiet, sonorous figures, sounding like the mew of a young cat.

  • Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorSee http://www.amphibiaweb.org/datause.html.
Sourcehttp://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Leptopelis&where-species=rufus&account=amphibiaweb

Threats:

Major Threats

It is affected by habitat loss as a result of expanding human settlements and agriculture, and the harvesting of wood.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56280

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions

It occurs in several protected areas, including Korup National Park in Cameroon and Monte Alen National Park in Equatorial Guinea.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56280

Red tree frog:
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorWikipedia
Sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_tree_frog&oldid=618039388

Description:

A very large, fully webbed Leptopelis (males 45-55 mm, females 74-87 mm) from the forests in central Africa with a rather small tympanum (discs larger than tympanum) and large choanae. Dorsum brown with darker irregular transverse bars. 3-4 bars on tibia. Iris golden. Males much smaller than females.Separated from L. palmatus by Perret, mainly based on its smaller tympanum. L. rufus is similar to the West African L. macrotis which, however has a larger tympanum.

L. rufus has been collected from branches overhanging a swift-flowing stream in forest. A pair in copula was taken in the low vegetation near a small stream.

This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.

  • Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorSee http://www.amphibiaweb.org/datause.html.
Sourcehttp://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Leptopelis&where-species=rufus&account=amphibiaweb

Range Description:

This species ranges from southeastern most Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon, mainland Equatorial Guinea, western Gabon and southwestern Congo to extreme western Democratic Republic of Congo. It presumably occurs in the Cabinda Enclave of Angola. Records from the island of Bioko (Equatorial Guinea) and from Fort Crampel in central Central African Republic are not confirmed (this last record is found significantly outside the known range of the species).

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56280

Distribution and Habitat:

A forest species, found from easternmost Nigeria, western Cameroun, Congo to western R. D. Congo. Seems to be absent from central and eastern Cameroun.

  • Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorSee http://www.amphibiaweb.org/datause.html.
Sourcehttp://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Leptopelis&where-species=rufus&account=amphibiaweb
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith