Hyperolius viridiflavus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	HYPEROLIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Hyperolius viridiflavus

Species Authority:

Dumeril and Bibron, 1841

Common Name/s:

English

–

Common Reed Frog

Taxonomic Notes:

This species is part of the Hyperolius viridiflavus superspecies (Laurent 1983, Schiøtz 1971, 1999). It is considered here as a separate species following Wieczorek et al. (2000, 2001). It should be noted that the taxonomic relationships within this superspecies are still far from settled. Members of this superspecies, which consists of a large number of forms that are distributed, generally allopatrically, throughout the tropical African savanna, with a common morphology, voice and ecology, but with widely differing dorsal patterns. Laurent (1983) concluded that the concept of one species best expressed present knowledge, and A. Schiøtz (pers. comm.) agrees with this. Wieczorek et al. (2001) carried out an analysis based on mtDNA, and separated the forms that they examined into 10 species. However, they examined only 22 out of 45 recognized "subspecies". The following distinct forms were not treated in the analysis by Wieczorek et al. (2001) and therefore cannot be allocated to any their ten species: spatzi, pallidus, pachydermus, destefanii, variabilis, coerulescens, karissimbiensis, francoisi, sheldricki, rubripes, mwanzae, reesi, bitaeniatus, rhodoscelis, nyassae, taeniatus, insignis, alborufus, epheboides, aposematicus and broadleyi. An un-named form from Marsabit in northern Kenya also cannot be allocated within the Wieczorek et al. (2001) arrangement of species. The arrangement currently followed by the Global Amphibian Assessment is provisional, pending a more complete analysis of the relationships within the Hyperolius viridiflavus superspecies. A. Schiøtz (pers. comm.) considers that it would have been prefereable for the Global Amphibian Assessment to treat the Hyperolius viridiflavus superspecies as a single species, because under this arrangement, all the described forms are covered unambiguously. Pickersgill (2007) treated mwanzae, variabilis and bayoni as separate species, but we follow Frost (2007) in including them under H. viridiflavus.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2004
Assessor/s:	Arne Schiøtz, Alan Channing, John Poynton, Malcolm Largen
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 very wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species ranges from northwestern Ethiopia through southern Sudan to western Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, northwestern Tanzania, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and probably eastern Central African Republic. The distributional limits between this species, and other members of the Hyperolius viridiflavus complex, in particular H. nitidulus, H. glandicolor and H. marginatus, are extremely unclear. The distribution map should therefore be regarded as provisional. It occurs from low altitudes up to 2,400m asl in Ethiopia.
Countries:	Native: Burundi; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Ethiopia; Kenya; Rwanda; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It is an extremely abundant species.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It is associated in with emergent vegetation at the margins of swamps, rivers and lakes in all types of savannah, grassland, forest edge and bush land, as well as many human-modified habitats, including cultivated land, towns and gardens. It spreads rapidly into recently created waterbodies. It breeds in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, ranging from very small to very large ponds, usually using temporary, but often also in permanent, waterbodies. The eggs are deposited directly into the water.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Habitat and Ecology:

It is associated in with emergent vegetation at the margins of swamps, rivers and lakes in all types of savannah, grassland, forest edge and bush land, as well as many human-modified habitats, including cultivated land, towns and gardens. It spreads rapidly into recently created waterbodies. It breeds in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, ranging from very small to very large ponds, usually using temporary, but often also in permanent, waterbodies. The eggs are deposited directly into the water.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	It is a very 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.

Major Threat(s):

It is a very 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.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	It occurs in several protected areas.

Conservation Actions:

It occurs in several protected areas.

Citation:	Arne Schiøtz, Alan Channing, John Poynton, Malcolm Largen 2004. Hyperolius viridiflavus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013.
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