African bullfrog
The African bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) is a species of frog. They are in the Ranidae family. They are commonly named pixie frog because of their Latin name. They are found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Democratic Republic of the Congo. They live in dry savannas, subtropical or tropical habitats. Males are bigger and longer than females.
| African bullfrog | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | P. adspersus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pyxicephalus adspersus Tschudi, 1838
| |
Growth Divergence: Sexual size differences were studied in the African bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus), a species in which adult males are about 2.5 times larger than females. The growth profile shows that males and females begin to differentiate in growth at 4 weeks after metamorphosis, at the same time as the appearance of differentiated gonads.[1]
Parental Care: The African frog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) expresses its parental care by scraping tadpole passages to larger water bodies. This gives cooler conditions for their young to survive in frequent overheating and rapid drying breeding pits.[2]
References
change- ↑ Hayes, Tyrone; Licht, Paul (November 1992). "Gonadal involvement in sexual size dimorphism in the African bullfrog ( Pyxicephalus adspersus )". Journal of Experimental Zoology. 264 (2): 130–135. doi:10.1002/jez.1402640203. ISSN 0022-104X.
- ↑ Cook, C. L.; Ferguson, J. W. H.; Telford, S. R. (2001). "Adaptive Male Parental Care in the Giant Bullfrog, Pyxicephalus adspersus". Journal of Herpetology. 35 (2): 310–315. doi:10.2307/1566122. ISSN 0022-1511. JSTOR 1566122.
Other websites
change- The Natural History of the African Bullfrog, copyright 2002 by Terry Gampper.
- Natural History, Care and Breeding Information for African Bullfrogs / Pyxie frogs Archived 2010-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
