Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

Uses:

In Burkino Faso, H. ornata is one of many frog species that are traded or consumed as a source of animal protein. Because villagers are employed to catch and prepare frogs, and because they are an "important international trading item" frogs are an integral part of the economy in areas with large frog populations. Aside from their value as an essential food source, they may also be used for cultural reasons and as traditional medicine in areas where Western medicine is not available. (Mohneke, 2010)

Wed, 2014-09-03 16:21 -- Jasmine Manalel
Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

General description:

The specific name is from the Latin 'ornata' meaning decorated, describing the dorsal color pattern.

Biology:

Hildebrantia ornata is medium-sized plump frog with a blunt snout that exhibits a Y-shaped pattern on throat and characteristic dorsal color pattern.

Conservation status:

The IUCN Red List (2010) categorizes this species as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a wide variety of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining to qualify for listing in a more threatened category (Rödel et al., 2004).

Management:

It occurs in many protected areas (Rödel et al., 2004).

Threats:

It is an adaptable species that is not facing any significant threats. It is sometimes found in the international pet trade but at levels that do not currently constitute a major threat (Rödel et al., 2004).

Trends:

Populations of this species are stable (Rödel et al., 2004).

Diagnostic description:

A plump looking frog with warty and folded skin, prominent eyes and short legs. The color pattern on the dorsum can be striking to dull with combinations of yellow brown to olive green with dark mottling on the sides. The ventrum is white to cream. Males have dark spots or mottling on the throat and paired lateral vocal sacs (Harper et al., 2010).

Behaviour:

This is a fossorial species that comes above ground only during the breeding season (Harper et al., 2010). Aquarium experiments have demonstrated that the larvae of H. ornata are carnivorous, preying successfully on other tadpoles (Rödel, 2000).

Growth:

Rödel (2000) describes the tadpole: Large, very muscular animals with compact, almost rectangular bodies and long tails. The base of the tail axis particularly muscular. The dorsal section of the tail fin begins at the level of the vent and shows a slightly convex border, whereas that of the ventral section is more or less straight. Tail fin occasionally with a tail filament. The fin is translucent clear or mottled with dark. The eyes are positioned laterally. The thick upper lip is clearly visible from above. Depending on the respective substrate, the tadpoles are either beige, dark brown or olive. A marked green metallic basic coloration is usually discernible, and this metallic glimmer can be considered as a feature which distinguishes these tadpoles from those of any other species. The keratodont formula is 0 // 2. The upper horny jaw is slender and slightly convex at the center, the lower one very sturdy, showing two prominent "teeth". The jaws are not serrated and are lined by thick lips. The latter are lined laterally and caudally by a single row of small papillae. Those papillae at the corners of the mouth are the largest. The horny teeth are located in skin depressions; each has one single point, and the ratio width / length is 1/1.7 – 1/3.2, depending on the respective position. The blunter teeth are usually arranged at the end of a row.

No freshly hatched tadpoles have been found. The smallest tadpole ever collected measured 8 mm. Tadpoles grow quite rapidly; three weeks after the start of the rainy period, tadpoles were about to metamorphose. At this stage, the BL was 16–20 mm (TL: 43–53 mm). Animals with fully developed hind limbs measured 17–20mm (BL; TL: 51–62 mm). The longest larva whose hind limbs were just emerging measured 56 mm. The length of freshly metamorphosed young frogs was 20–21 mm. Lambiris (1989) shows a larva which resembles the animals found in the Comoé National Park. Showing an identical oral disc with enlarged anterior papillae, they have higher backs and are altogether more rounded. Lambiris (1989) gives a maximal TL of 88 mm (BL: 29 mm). He does not mention any metallic glimmer. The drawing in Wager (1986) is even more similar to the Comoé tadpoles, but it does not show any enlarged papillae on the oral disc. According to Wager (1986), these rather fat tadpoles even achieve a TL of 95 mm (BL: 25 mm). The end of the elongate tail fin is lash like.

Look alikes:

H. ornata is similar in body shape to Pyxicephalus edulis, but it lacks the teeth-like projections on the jaw (Harper et al., 2010).

Morphology:

The following is the description of Rana ruddi from Beira, Mozambique by Boulenger (1907), which was synonymized with Rana ornata ornata by Schmidt and Inger (1959):

Vomerine teeth in two small groups close to the inner borders of the choanae. Head is feebly depressed and as long as broad. Snout is rounded, feebly projecting beyond the mouth, and slightly shorter than the orbit. The canthus rostralis is obtuse, and the loreal region is concave. The nostril is equally distant from the eye and the end of the snout. The interorbital region is narrower than the upper eyelid. The tympanum is very distinct and slightly smaller than the eye. Fingers are very short, obtusely pointed; the first extends as far as thesecond. The toes are short and one-thid webbed. The subarticular tubercles of the fingers and toes are feeble. A large, compressed, very prominent, shovel-shaped inner metatarsal tubercle is present that is at least as long as the inner toe. The tarso-metatarsal articulation reaches the eye. Dorsal skin is flat with smooth warts of unequal size. A very indistinct dorso-lateral fold is present. Venter is smooth, and the sides of the belly are feebly areolate. Males have two external vocal sacs, opening by a slit on each side of the throat.

Dorsum is dark born with light, yellowish streaks on the head and body, namely a narrow vertebral line, a broader band from the end of the snout along the canthus rostralis and the outer border of the upper eyelid to above the tympanum, where it bifurcates, the upper branch extending to above the vent, the lower running obliquely to the groin. A yellowish bar usually present across the occiput. A yellowish streak is resent along the upper lip. A white oblique line is present in front of the eye, and a white circle is present around the tympanum. Limbs have alternating dark and pale bars. The hinder side of the thighs is yellowish, marbles with black. The throat and breast are dark brown, or marbled with dark brown, with a Y-shaped white marking on each side. The belly is white.

Rödel (2000) describes the color pattern as follows: A broad green vertebral band runs from the snout tip to the end of the body. It either covers all of the snout or, in most specimens, it is split up immediately into three separate stripes. In this case, the median one will continue to the end of the body. Like the remaining green parts, it tends to be replaced on adult frogs by clear brown colors, that expand from the flanks. The two lateral green lines run from the outer border of the eyelids to the end of the body. Even on young individuals, they tend to be fragmented, forming various dots and strokes. Wherever the green colors fade, they are replaced by brown ones. The space between those at least partially green lines is occupied by two parallel brown lines. Some young have a back which is completely green. The basal section of the eyelid is pale to dark brown; in the former case, it often bears dark brown spots with black borders. A narrow white stripe begins at the snout tip, i.e. below the green lateral stripe, crossing the eye at a level superior to the pupil and fading out somewhere behind the eye. This stripe is ventrally accompanied by a small dark brown triangle with black borders which stretches from the snout tip to the shoulder. In the caudal section of this triangle, however, only the borders and the tympanum keep their dark coloration, the remaining parts of the skin being rather dark gray. The tympanum partially shows a narrow white border. The upper lip is white up to the armpits. In the sector preceding the eye, a short green stripe occasionally appears. A broad pale to dark red line starts at the posterior border of the eye, i.e. above the dark zone surrounding the tympanum, running obliquely towards the groin. A rather short extension of this line starts above the armpits, bending back first towards the latter and finally pointing down perpendicularly. This extension also crosses the temporal triangle which runs to the belly where it becomes gray, bearing numerous black to dark brown spots and strokes. The diagonal red brown and the greenish dorsolateral lines enclose a triangle pointing towards the head. This area shows a dark brown color, especially on young frogs, whereas adult individuals have only continuous dark borders and a number of dark patches left. The rest of the triangle turning gradually rather pale. The shoulder also bears a dark triangle, and the rest of the upper arm is beige to flesh-colored. Two elongate dark brown triangles pointing towards the hands appear on the lower arms. The hind limbs bear dark brown lines, two on the thigh, three on the lower leg. The outer parts of the thighs are mottled. The proximal parts of the lower legs often show green intervals separating the above-mentioned bars. The foot is clear brown with four to five dark transverse bars. The throat bears two more or less symmetrical y-shaped white markings whose short branch point towards the corners of the mouth. Individuals from the Comoé National Park usually lack the shorter branch of the Y. The white markings are usually framed by dark brown to black bands. The remaining skin areas are paler brown, with the exception of the jaw borders and of the corners of the mouth which are both dark. The venter is whitish. The pectoral region and the flanks may be brown, too. The vocal sacs of the males are slate gray. In alcohol the green colors completely fade, turning red-brown. Some brown areas may turn red or reddish. Many markings either fade or disappear, being replaced at worst by a uniform dark brown. In this case, the frogs can only be identified by means of their throat markings; however, most individuals still show faint traces of the general markings.

Size:

Males are 44 – 49 mm in snout-vent length, and females are up to 45 mm (Harper et al., 2010). According to Boulenger (1907), the type specimen of Rana ruddi was 48 mm.

Distribution:

This species ranges very widely in tropical and subtropical Africa from Senegal and Gambia east to Kenya and south to northern Namibia, northern Botswana, southern Mozambique and northern South Africa. It appears not to have been recorded from Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Sudan, but it presumably occurs in these countries (Rödel et al., 2004).

Native: Angola; Benin; Botswana; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Malawi; Mali; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Senegal; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Habitat:

It occurs in dry and more humid savannas, and it is absent from pockets of forest and high rocky terrain within its range. Since the large temporary waters and small mud holes where it is known to breed are not common habitats, its distribution is patchy. It is able to survive in modified habitats (Rödel et al., 2004). It is found at elevations up to 1200 m (Harper et al., 2010).

Population biology:

It is common in many parts of its range, although it is often of very patchy occurrence. However, it is generally uncommon in West Africa, with small populations at any one locality (Rödel et al., 2004).

Reproduction:

Breeding takes place in temporary pools that lack vegetation. Males call from the water’s edge. Single eggs are scattered by the female during amplexus, typically during the beginning of the rainy season (Harper et al., 2010). It is an explosive breeder, and is known to breed in large temporary waters and small mud holes with and without vegetation (Rödel et al., 2004).

Wed, 2014-09-03 15:28 -- Breda Zimkus
Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

Reproduction:

The advertisement call is a short "hoot" (Harper et al., 2010). Amiet (1974) describes the advertisement call as a very low sonorous "hôn" which is uttered slowly and at very regular intervals over a long period. Each call lasts about 0.2 to 0.3 sec. Passmore & Carruthers (1995) report on a long nasal "quack" lasting 0.4 sec at a frequency of 0.4–0.6 kHz. According to Lambiris (1989), the low frequent call, "quack", lasts 0.5 sec, being repeated every two seconds.

Wed, 2014-09-03 15:28 -- Breda Zimkus

EOL Text

Distribution:

Poynton and Broadley (1985) found H. ornata has a wide distribution, from tropical West and East Africa, south as far as central Namibia and east through northern Botswana and Zimbabwe to Mozambique and South Africa (Text from Minter et al., 2004, © SI/MAB Biodiversity Program).

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Source	http://africanamphibians.lifedesks.org/pages/26299

IUCN Red List Category and Justification of Conservation Status:

The IUCN Red List (2010) categorizes this species as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a wide variety of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining to qualify for listing in a more threatened category (Rödel et al., 2004).

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Morphology:

The following is the description of Rana ruddi from Beira, Mozambique by Boulenger (1907), which was synonymized with Rana ornata ornata by Schmidt and Inger (1959):

Vomerine teeth in two small groups close to the inner borders of the choanae. Head is feebly depressed and as long as broad. Snout is rounded, feebly projecting beyond the mouth, and slightly shorter than the orbit. The canthus rostralis is obtuse, and the loreal region is concave. The nostril is equally distant from the eye and the end of the snout. The interorbital region is narrower than the upper eyelid. The tympanum is very distinct and slightly smaller than the eye. Fingers are very short, obtusely pointed; the first extends as far as thesecond. The toes are short and one-thid webbed. The subarticular tubercles of the fingers and toes are feeble. A large, compressed, very prominent, shovel-shaped inner metatarsal tubercle is present that is at least as long as the inner toe. The tarso-metatarsal articulation reaches the eye. Dorsal skin is flat with smooth warts of unequal size. A very indistinct dorso-lateral fold is present. Venter is smooth, and the sides of the belly are feebly areolate. Males have two external vocal sacs, opening by a slit on each side of the throat.

Dorsum is dark born with light, yellowish streaks on the head and body, namely a narrow vertebral line, a broader band from the end of the snout along the canthus rostralis and the outer border of the upper eyelid to above the tympanum, where it bifurcates, the upper branch extending to above the vent, the lower running obliquely to the groin. A yellowish bar usually present across the occiput. A yellowish streak is resent along the upper lip. A white oblique line is present in front of the eye, and a white circle is present around the tympanum. Limbs have alternating dark and pale bars. The hinder side of the thighs is yellowish, marbles with black. The throat and breast are dark brown, or marbled with dark brown, with a Y-shaped white marking on each side. The belly is white.

Rödel (2000) describes the color pattern as follows: A broad green vertebral band runs from the snout tip to the end of the body. It either covers all of the snout or, in most specimens, it is split up immediately into three separate stripes. In this case, the median one will continue to the end of the body. Like the remaining green parts, it tends to be replaced on adult frogs by clear brown colors, that expand from the flanks. The two lateral green lines run from the outer border of the eyelids to the end of the body. Even on young individuals, they tend to be fragmented, forming various dots and strokes. Wherever the green colors fade, they are replaced by brown ones. The space between those at least partially green lines is occupied by two parallel brown lines. Some young have a back which is completely green. The basal section of the eyelid is pale to dark brown; in the former case, it often bears dark brown spots with black borders. A narrow white stripe begins at the snout tip, i.e. below the green lateral stripe, crossing the eye at a level superior to the pupil and fading out somewhere behind the eye. This stripe is ventrally accompanied by a small dark brown triangle with black borders which stretches from the snout tip to the shoulder. In the caudal section of this triangle, however, only the borders and the tympanum keep their dark coloration, the remaining parts of the skin being rather dark gray. The tympanum partially shows a narrow white border. The upper lip is white up to the armpits. In the sector preceding the eye, a short green stripe occasionally appears. A broad pale to dark red line starts at the posterior border of the eye, i.e. above the dark zone surrounding the tympanum, running obliquely towards the groin. A rather short extension of this line starts above the armpits, bending back first towards the latter and finally pointing down perpendicularly. This extension also crosses the temporal triangle which runs to the belly where it becomes gray, bearing numerous black to dark brown spots and strokes. The diagonal red brown and the greenish dorsolateral lines enclose a triangle pointing towards the head. This area shows a dark brown color, especially on young frogs, whereas adult individuals have only continuous dark borders and a number of dark patches left. The rest of the triangle turning gradually rather pale. The shoulder also bears a dark triangle, and the rest of the upper arm is beige to flesh-colored. Two elongate dark brown triangles pointing towards the hands appear on the lower arms. The hind limbs bear dark brown lines, two on the thigh, three on the lower leg. The outer parts of the thighs are mottled. The proximal parts of the lower legs often show green intervals separating the above-mentioned bars. The foot is clear brown with four to five dark transverse bars. The throat bears two more or less symmetrical y-shaped white markings whose short branch point towards the corners of the mouth. Individuals from the Comoé National Park usually lack the shorter branch of the Y. The white markings are usually framed by dark brown to black bands. The remaining skin areas are paler brown, with the exception of the jaw borders and of the corners of the mouth which are both dark. The venter is whitish. The pectoral region and the flanks may be brown, too. The vocal sacs of the males are slate gray. In alcohol the green colors completely fade, turning red-brown. Some brown areas may turn red or reddish. Many markings either fade or disappear, being replaced at worst by a uniform dark brown. In this case, the frogs can only be identified by means of their throat markings; however, most individuals still show faint traces of the general markings.

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IUCN Red List Category and Justification of Conservation Status:

H. ornata is not considered threatened, but is never abundant at any one locality (Text from Minter et al., 2004, © SI/MAB Biodiversity Program).

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Source	http://africanamphibians.lifedesks.org/pages/26299

Size:

Males are 44 – 49 mm in snout-vent length, and females are up to 45 mm (Harper et al., 2010). According to Boulenger (1907), the type specimen of Rana ruddi was 48 mm.

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Population:

Population

It is common in many parts of its range, although it is often of very patchy occurrence. However, it is generally uncommon in West Africa, with small populations at any one locality.

Population Trend

Unknown

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Diagnostic Description:

A plump looking frog with warty and folded skin, prominent eyes and short legs. The color pattern on the dorsum can be striking to dull with combinations of yellow brown to olive green with dark mottling on the sides. The ventrum is white to cream. Males have dark spots or mottling on the throat and paired lateral vocal sacs (Harper et al., 2010).

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Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors:

Spawn: Unknown at Comoé National Park. The eye diameter is said to be 1.4 mm without and 3 mm with jelly. Single eggs are deposited in shallow water (Wager 1986, Lambiris 1989), often being scattered over a considerable area (Passmore & Carruthers 1995).
Tadpoles: Large, very muscular animals with compact, almost rectangular bodies and long tails. The base of the tail axis particularly muscular. The dorsal section of the tail fin begins at the level of the vent and shows a slightly convex border, whereas that of the ventral section is more or less straight. Tail fin occasionally with a tail filament. The fin is translucent clear or mottled with dark. The eyes are positioned laterally. The thick upper lip is clearly visible from above. Depending on the respective substrate, the tadpoles are either beige, dark brown or olive. A marked green metallic basic coloration is usually discernible, and this metallic glimmer can be considered as a feature which distinguishes these tadpoles from those of any other species.
The keratodont formula is 0 // 2. The upper horny jaw is slender and slightly convex at the center, the lower one very sturdy, showing two prominent "teeth". The jaws are not serrated and are lined by thick lips. The latter are lined laterally and caudally by a single row of small papillae. Those papillae at the corners of the mouth are the largest. The horny teeth are located in skin depressions; each has one single point, and the ratio width / length is 1/1.7 - 1/3.2, depending on the respective position. The blunter teeth are usually arranged at the end of a row.
So far, no freshly hatched tadpoles have been found. The smallest tadpole ever collected measured 8 mm. However, the tadpoles apparently grow quite rapidly. In 1994, I found a larva measuring 20 mm in a pool which had developed after heavy rainfall just four days before. Three weeks after the start of the rainy period, we already found tadpoles which were about to metamorphose. At this stage, the BL was 16-20 mm (TL: 43-53 mm). Animals with fully developed hind limbs measured 17-20mm (BL; TL: 51-62 mm). The longest larva whose hind limbs were just emerging measured 56 mm. The length of freshly metamorphosed young frogs was 20-21 mm.
Lambiris (1989) shows a larva which resembles the animals found in the Comoé National Park. Showing an identical oral disc with enlarged anterior papillae, they have higher backs and are altogether more rounded. Lambiris (1989) gives a maximal TL of 88 mm (BL:
29 mm). He does not mention any metallic glimmer. The drawing in Wager (1986) is even more similar to the Comoé tadpoles, but it does not show any enlarged papillae on the oral disc. According to Wager (1986), these rather fat tadpoles even achieve a TL of 95 mm (BL: 25 mm). The end of the elongate tail fin is lash like.
Biology: Collected tadpoles demonstrate that the reproductive activities of H. ornata starts immediately when the rainy season sets in, i.e. when the larger savanna waters are filled with water. Although known spawning sites were controlled at those nights, I never encountered adult frogs. Later visits undertaken both during periods with and without rainfall proved to be unsuccessful, too. We never succeeded in locating single calling specimens. Most probably, they were calling in subterranean refuges. The only one adult animal collected so far was sitting during the day in the center of a sunny part of the forest floor. Although this forest, which is situated in the vicinity of a very important breeding pond, was thoroughly searched, no further frogs were found. As far as that goes, the life history of adult frogs in Comoé National Park is still unknown.
In the southern part of the national park, the tadpoles develop in a few large waters harboring little or no vegetation. Within these habitats they prefer the deepest parts. In the center of the park I found tadpoles in a heavily overgrown shallow pond, too. Younger larvae were repeatedly found during the rainy season, developing into frogs within a few weeks. The young will spend some time near the pond if there are sufficient humid refuges below stones and dead wood.
Aquarium experiments have demonstrated that the larvae of H. ornata are carnivorous, preying successfully on other tadpoles. This behavior is confirmed by Lambiris (1989). They presumably devour their siblings, too (Lambiris 1989). It is not known whether this cannibalistic behavior is a laboratory artifact or not. Noble (1924) reports that adult H. ornata feed on young toads and arthropods.
Amiet (1974b, 1989/90) describes a very short breeding season in the early rainy period in Cameroon. H. ornata apparently spends most of the year underground (Amiet 1974b, Passmore & Carruthers 1995). Males are reported to call at the pond edge (Lambiris 1988). According to Channing & Griffin (1993), males call from the water in shallow pans and flooded areas. They call fairly late in the evening. The spawning sites include various types of very small ponds (Urban 1967, Lambiris 1988, Passmore & Carruthers 1995) and inundated meadows (Poynton & Haacke 1993).

RÃ¶del, M. O. (2000). Herpetofauna of West Africa, Vol. I. Amphibians of the West African Savanna. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, Germany.

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Comparisons:

H. ornata is similar in body shape to Pyxicephalus edulis, but it lacks the teeth-like projections on the jaw (Harper et al., 2010).

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Rights holder/Author	Zimkus, Breda, Zimkus, Breda, African Amphibians Lifedesk
Source	http://africanamphibians.lifedesks.org/pages/26299

Trends:

Populations of this species are stable (Rödel et al., 2004).

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Rights holder/Author	Zimkus, Breda, Zimkus, Breda, African Amphibians Lifedesk
Source	http://africanamphibians.lifedesks.org/pages/26299

African Amphibians

Amphibians

Hildebrandtia ornata (Peters, 1878)

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