A type catalogue of the reed frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Hyperoliidae) in the collection of the Museum fuer Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB) with comments on historical collectors and expeditions
Author
Tillack, Frank
Museum fuer Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Author
Ruiter, Ronald de
Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Hoeferlaan 4, 6816 SG Arnhem, The Netherlands
Author
Roedel, Mark-Oliver
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1666-195X
Museum fuer Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
mo.roedel@mfn-berlin.de
text
Zoosystematics and Evolution
2021
2021-08-10
97
2
407
450
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zse.97.68000
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zse.97.68000
1860-0743-2-407
DC2EBA6293A141938ADC2A79F7D658B9
9446F0CE40A752B4897F7B7B71BBFD29
Hyperolius pygmaeus Ahl, 1931a: 22.
Holotype.
ZMB 36102,
"Tanga"
[Tanga Region, Tanzania], coll. Georg Martienssen.
Present name.
Afrixalus stuhlmanni
(Pfeffer, 1893).
Remarks.
Drawing in
Ahl (1931b
: 273, fig. 143).
Hyperolius pygmaeus
Ahl, 1931a, is a junior homonym of
Hyperolius pygmaeus
Meyer, 1875 (=
Litoria pygmaea
).
Between December 1896 and June 1899, the German planter Martienssen sent amphibians and reptiles from the German colony in East Africa to ZMB. The locality
"Tanga"
as given by
Ahl (1931a)
most likely refers to
today's
Tanga region. It is clear from
Martienssen's
correspondence with ZMB that the amphibians he sent to Berlin were collected, with few exceptions (e.g. Ukami), exclusively in
"Magrotto"
[plantation in southern part of Mlinga Mountains, East Usambara, Tanga Region] and "Plantation
Schoeller"
[Bondei County near Ngomeni, east of the Mlinga Mountains, ca. 25 km SW of Tanga town] (see
Gvozdik
et al. 2014
). Martienssen also supported the African expedition to Kilimanjaro undertaken by Yngve
Sjoestedt
from 1905-1906 by providing porters (
Sjoestedt
1910
: 3). The correspondence between Martienssen and the ZMB curators (especially Gustav Tornier), kept in the archives of the Historical Department at ZMB, reveals that
"Laubfroesche"
[Tree frogs,
Hyperolius
spp. (s. l.)] sent by Martienssen to ZMB were all collected on the
"Magrotto"
plantation between 17 April and 18 May 1897.