Amphibian diversity of a West African biodiversity hotspot: an assessment and commented checklist of the batrachofauna of the Ivorian part of the Nimba Mountains
Author
Kanga, Kouassi Philippe
Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Tropicale (BioEcoTrop), Daloa, BP 150, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Kouamé, N’Goran Germain
Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Tropicale (BioEcoTrop), Daloa, BP 150, COTE D’IVOIRE
ngoran_kouame@yahoo.fr
Author
Zogbassé, Parfait
Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Tropicale (BioEcoTrop), Daloa, BP 150, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Gongomin, Basseu Aude-Inès
Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Tropicale (BioEcoTrop), Daloa, BP 150, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Agoh, Konan Laurent
Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Tropicale (BioEcoTrop), Daloa, BP 150, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Kouamé, Akoua Michèle
Université Nangui Abrogoua, Pôle de Recherche Pêche et Aquaculture, UFR-SGE, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Konan, Jean Christophe B. Y. N.
Université Nangui Abrogoua, Pôle de Recherche Pêche et Aquaculture, UFR-SGE, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Adepo-Gourène, Abouo Béatrice
Université Nangui Abrogoua, Pôle de Recherche Pêche et Aquaculture, UFR-SGE, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Gourène, Germain
Université Nangui Abrogoua, Pôle de Recherche Pêche et Aquaculture, UFR-SGE, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, COTE D’IVOIRE
Author
Rödel, Mark-Oliver
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, GERMANY
text
Amphibian & Reptile Conservation
2021
e 275
2021-06-27
15
1
71
107
journal article
296936
10.5281/zenodo.11287122
fd72f90b-5100-43fc-9963-19f91090830b
1525-9153
11287122
Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis
(Angel, 1943)
Nimba
Toad
Material
: No voucher.
Comments
:
Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis
is a unique toad, being viviparous and endemic to a very limited range of a total of
4 km
2
on the ridges of the Mounts
Nimba
between
Liberia
,
Guinea
, and
Ivory Coast
(
Lamotte 1959
;
Lamotte and Sanchez-Lamotte 1999
;
Hillers et al. 2008b
;
Sandberger-Loua et al. 2016
,
2017
). The toads live in montane grasslands above
1,200 m
asl, where they go into dormancy during the dry season (
Lamotte 1959
; Hillers et al. 2008;
Sandberger et al. 2010
).
Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis
comprises two subspecies isolated by a forested mountain ridge: the larger
N. occidentalis liberiensis
is restricted to one site in
Liberia
, while
N. occidentalis occidentali
s occurs in a few sub-populations in
Guinea
and
Ivory Coast
(
Sandberger et al. 2010
). We found
N. occidentalis occidentalis
at
1,235 m
asl, on very humid steep slopes in the montane grassland (
07°35.555’N
,
008°25.788’W
;
1,235 m
asl).
Four juveniles
and
one female
were discovered under rocks. The sizes of the juveniles ranged from 12.0‒14.0 mm while the female measured 23.0 mm. The basic dorsal color of the juveniles was dark brown, with a somewhat irregular mixture of light brown and white spots. Their snout, eyelids, and legs were colored light brown. The juveniles showed a pattern typical for adult males (
Fig. 7A
), whereas the female had a nearly uniform light brown dorsal color (
Fig. 7B
). The main threat for this species in
Ivory Coast
is bush fires in the dry season. A detailed assessment of the distribution and population sizes of
N. occidentalis occidentalis
from
Ivory Coast
is urgently needed.