0 c m Symbol key 1 2 habitat pond 3 puddle 4 5 river 6 stream 7 underground 8 day / night day 9 night 1 0 altitude high 1 1 low 1 2 vegetation types shamba 1 3 forest 1 4 1 plantation 5 1 6 1 7 1 8 prelim pages ENGLISH.indd ii 2009/10/22 02:03:47 PM SANBI Biodiversity Series Amphibians of the Taita Hills by G.J. Measey, P.K. Malonza and V. Muchai 2009 prelim pages ENGLISH.indd Sec1:i 2009/10/27 07:51:49 AM SANBI Biodiversity Series The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) was established on 1 September 2004 through the signing into force of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) No. 10 of 2004 by President Thabo Mbeki. The Act expands the mandate of the former National Botanical Institute to include responsibilities relating to the full diversity of South Africa’s fauna and (cid:2) ora, and builds on the internationally respected programmes in conservation, research, education and visitor services developed by the National Botanical Institute and its predecessors over the past century. The vision of SANBI: Biodiversity richness for all South Africans. SANBI’s mission is to champion the exploration, conservation, sustainable use, appreciation and enjoyment of South Africa’s exceptionally rich biodiversity for all people. SANBI Biodiversity Series publishes occasional reports on projects, technologies, workshops, symposia and other activities initiated by or executed in partnership with SANBI. Technical editor: Gerrit Germishuizen Design & layout: Elizma Fouché Cover design: Elizma Fouché How to cite this publication MEASEY, G.J., MALONZA, P.K. & MUCHAI, V. 2009. Amphibians of the Taita Hills / Am(cid:3) bia wa milima ya Taita. SANBI Biodiversity Series 12. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. ISBN 978-1-919976-49-5 © Published by: South African National Biodiversity Institute Obtainable from: SANBI Bookshop, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 843-5000. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.sanbi.org. Printed by Seriti Printing (Pty) Ltd, P.O. Box 24829, Gezina, 0031 Pretoria. prelim pages ENGLISH.indd Sec1:ii 2009/10/27 07:52:10 AM Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Explanatory notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Biodiversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Climate in Taita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Amphibians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Metamorphosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Amplexus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Direct development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Xenopus borealis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . northern clawed frog . . . . . . . . . 12 Hemisus marmoratus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pig-nosed frog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Callulina dawida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taita warty frog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Arthroleptis xenodactyloides . . . . . . . . . eastern dwarf squeaker . . . . . . . . 24 Amietophrynus gutturalis . . . . . . . . . . . guttural toad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Mertensophryne taitana. . . . . . . . . . . . . Taita dwarf toad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Leptopelis concolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pale-coloured tree frog . . . . . . . . 36 Ptychadena mascareniensis. . . . . . . . . . . Mascarene ridged frog. . . . . . . . . 38 Ptychadena anchietae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anchieta’s ridged frog . . . . . . . . . 42 Phrynobatrachus schef(cid:2) eri . . . . . . . . . . . Schef(cid:2) er’s puddle frog. . . . . . . . . 46 Amietia angolensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angola river frog . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Hyperolius glandicolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peters reed frog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Kassina senegalensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . common bubbling kassina . . . . . . 54 Chiromantis petersii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter’s foam-nest tree frog . . . . . 56 Boulengerula taitana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taita Hills caecilian . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Boulengerula niedeni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sagalla caecilian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Clubs and Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 About the authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 prelim pages ENGLISH.indd Sec1:iii 2009/10/27 07:52:12 AM Foreword This book documents amphibians found in the Taita Hills. Amphibians are some of the least known animals and also not very much liked due to their slimy bodies. They are also among some of the most threatened animals due to human activities. This book will help demystify what amphibians are and their importance in conservation. I hope this will help the readers start appreciating these animals and the importance of conserving their environment and especially the indigenous forests on which most of them depend. I want to believe that you will develop pride (as I did) in the knowledge that some of these only occur in Taita and nowhere else in the WHOLE WORLD. We live in a rich and beautiful place that must have been even richer and more beautiful before we cleared much of the indigenous forest cover. The Taita Hills has lost over 98% of its forest cover over the last 200 years, according to scientists. It is our onus to see that no more loss occurs and instead try to restore this beautiful place as much as we can. This will bene(cid:3) t us in several ways such as increased watershed services, improved food security and also conserve the unique biodiversity (Uhaiwai) we have. The hard work and dedication of the authors has resulted in a work of such comprehensiveness that is sure to impart valuable knowledge to the readers. James Mwang’ombe Project Coordinator The East African Wild Life Society 10 October 2008 iv prelim pages ENGLISH.indd Sec1:iv 2009/10/27 07:52:14 AM Explanatory notes es ol p d Month Temp Rain Calling Eggs+ta Adults MgaNmybaocnhyei Macha Werhuga Jan Mwanda WesuWundanyi Feb Mar Apr May Mwatate Jun Xenopus borealis northern clawed frog Jul kichula machi ± Aug 0 1 2 4 6 8 km Sep Oct Nov The calendar shows relative monthly changes in rainfall and temperature Dec as shades of blue and red. The following bars indicate when males are calling, when eggs and tadpoles can be found, and lastly when adults can be found. Average sizes of males and females are given relative to a human hand size. Individuals that you (cid:3) nd may be smaller or larger than these average sizes. The maps indicate places where we have found each species of amphibian. It may be possible to (cid:3) nd them in other places, and we male female encourage you to look! v prelim pages ENGLISH.indd Sec1:v 2009/10/27 07:52:16 AM Acknowledgements We thank the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund for supporting research on amphibians in the Taita Hills and the production of this guide. Swahili translation by Ahmed Omar (National Museums of Kenya). We are extremely grateful to Muthama Muasya (University of Cape Town) for his assistance with the Swahili text. Photo credits: All photographs by the (cid:3) rst author except: Page 3: Mwangi Githuru: Turdus helleri Page 8: César Barrio: Salamandra algira Page 23: Anthony Herrel: Callulina dawida tag Page 49: Alan Channing: Amietia angolensis Page 54: Alan Channing: Kassina senegalensis Page 71: Krystal Tolley: Homo sapiens JM vi prelim pages ENGLISH.indd Sec1:vi 2009/10/27 07:52:22 AM SANBI Biodiversity Series 12 (2009) Biodiversity Biodiversity is an expression of the During this very long period the biological diversity within a particular climate in the area was not stable area: diversity can be measured from but went through many wet and dry genes to ecosystems, although the phases, each lasting many thousands most common unit is the number of years. The consequence was of species. In temperate areas, the that the lowlands became forested number of species is well known as (during wet periods) and then turned biologists have been working there into savanna (during dry periods). for a long time, but many areas of The tops of the mountains of the the world have not been investigated Eastern-Arc stayed forested the well and contain unknown levels whole time, so that these forests of biodiversity. In 1999 some were occasionally connected together scientists investigated the patterns of in wet periods and separated in dry biodiversity on Earth and concluded periods. This gave a chance for the that some areas were very special animals and plants that live in the as they contained high numbers of forests to move and spread between species in well-de(cid:3) ned areas that mountains, and become separated were also under threat. These places and isolated into the mountain they called ‘biodiversity hotspots’. Of refuges during dry times. Imagine that the 12 biodiversity hotspots that they if the whole area was once forested described, one was called ‘Eastern- and now all those species of plants Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests’ and animals are concentrated into the in East Africa. forests on the tops of the mountains! The Eastern-Arc Mountains stretch Now, we live in a dry period of this from the Udzungwas in the far south region’s history and the savannas of Tanzania to the Taita Hills in form a barrier for most forest southeastern Kenya. The mountains animals or plants which cannot in this area are all of the same age move between the mountains of (around 200 million years) and have the Eastern-Arc. It is believed consistently trapped rain clouds that the many changes between coming from the Indian Ocean. This connectedness and isolation of has meant that these mountains have the Eastern-Arc Mountains are maintained the hot and wet climate responsible for the high number of which supports natural forests for species found in this biodiversity many millions of years and long hotspot. At this time (and during before humans inhabited the area. dry periods before), the Eastern-Arc 1 Biodiversity series 12 English.i1 1 2009/10/26 07:48:50 AM SANBI Biodiversity Series 12 (2009) Areas that were once covered in forest are now bare with only small patches of trees which are mostly exotic. Mountains act as a refuge for many thousands of species which cannot live in the dry savanna. It is possible to think of the mountains as islands of forest surrounded by a sea of savanna. As the species which live in these forests have been isolated for many thousands of years, they have become unique and many exist only on top of individual mountains. We call these species ‘endemic’ to the particular area they come from. The Eastern-Arc Mountains contain many endemic species which occur nowhere else in the world, and of all the vertebrate animals, the amphibians have the In the lowlands, between the Eastern-Arc highest total number of species, Mountains, rainfall is low. probably highest in all of Africa. 2 Biodiversity series 12 English.i2 2 2009/10/26 07:49:03 AM