Kassina Girard, 1853  

Kassina is a genus of hyperoliid frogs, commonly referred to as running frogs. They are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are characterized by preferring a distinctive "walking" with the back legs instead of the more traditional frog-hopping.^[1]

Species[edit]

There are about 14 recognized species in the genus Kassina:

• Kassina arboricola (Perret, 1985) - Ivory Coast running frog
• Kassina cassinoides (Boulenger, 1903) - silver running frog
• Kassina cochranae (Loveridge, 1941) - Cochran's running frog
• Kassina fusca (Schiøtz, 1967) - brown running frog
• Kassina jozani (Msuya et al., 2006)
• Kassina kuvangensis (Monard, 1937) - Kuvangu running frog
• Kassina lamottei (Schiøtz, 1967) - rainforest running frog
• Kassina maculata (Duméril, 1853) - red-legged running frog
• Kassina maculifer (Ahl, 1924) - Parker's running frog
• Kassina maculosa (Sternfeld, 1917) - marbled running frog
• Kassina mertensi (Laurent, 1952) - Mertens' running frog
• Kassina schioetzi (Rödel, et al., 2002) - Schiøtz's running frog
• Kassina senegalensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) - Senegal running frog
• Kassina somalica (Scortecci, 1932) - Somalian running frog

In captivity[edit]

K. maculata is frequently exported from Tanzania for the exotic pet trade.

Research[edit]

It is the source of "kassinin", a frequently studied tachykinin peptide.

References[edit]

• "Kassina". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 July 2006.