LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 590.5 FI V.44 cop. 3 NArURAL HISTORY. SIJRVFY 15 mr ^ u 1968 lUMn FIELDIANA • ZOOLOGY Published by CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Volume 44 February 25, 1963 No. 18 A New Frog of the Genus Kassina From Northern Rhodesia R. F. Laurent Museum of Comparative Zoology While visiting Chicago Natural History Museum, I was asked by Dr. R. F. Inger to look at two specimens of Kassina, which he believed might represent an unknown species. This was also my impression, and comparison has confirmed the apparent differences. Dr. Inger has asked me to describe the new species, which I do gladly. Kassina ingeri, new species Holotype. — A male, Chicago Natural History Museum no. 133011, from Kalaho, Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia. Collected Febru- ary 16, 1962, by Richard Japp. Paratype. — A female juvenal, CNHM no. 133007, same locality and collector. Collected December 6, 1961. Diagnosis. — ^This species differs from all other Kassina in its large size (48 mm.; other species ca. 40 mm.), and in the ventral pigmenta- tion pattern (never reticulate in other species). Description of holotype. — General habitus stocky. Vomerine teeth present, between the choanae. Tongue heart-shaped, free behind. Head large, broader (18.2 mm.) than long (16.2 mm.). Snout rounded, longer (7.4 mm.) than high (6.2 mm.), somewhat project- ing, longer than the eye (5.2 mm.), shorter than the distance between the front eye-corners (8.5 mm.). Eye-nostril distance (5.4 mm.) much longer than the internarial space (3.1 mm.) and than the dis- tance between the nostril and the tip of the snout (2.8 mm.). Inter- orbital width (5.2 mm.) much greater than the internarial width (3.1 mm.) and the breadth of an upper eyeUd (3.3 mm.). Canthus rostralis indistinct; loreal region flat. Tympanum distinguishable, but covered by the thick skin which forms a fold from the posterior Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-1 U2 It No. 966 137 138 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 44 corner of the eye to the front leg, nearer the eye than the commis- sure. Anterior limbs long; fingers moderate. No terminal discs. Third finger (6.5 mm., without metacarpal) shorter than the snout (7.4 mm.). Well-developed subarticular tubercles. Toes moderate, with a poorly developed web. Phalanges free: 1 (2)-2 i (2)-2 e (13^)- 3 i (3)-3 e (2)^ i (3i^)-5 (2). First and second toes free; fifth toe as long as third toe. External metatarsals fused. Internal metatarsal tubercle (2.5 mm.) well developed; external metatarsal tubercle ab- sent. No folds or tubercles on the tarsus. Tibio-metatarsal articulation hardly reaching axillas. Thigh (17.6 mm.) longer than the tibia (16 mm.), which is 2.54 times longer than broad (6.3 mm.), shorter than the foot (20.4 mm.), and is contained three times in the snout-vent length. Skin smooth on the back, folded on the throat, coarsely granu- lated on the belly. The vocal sac has about the same structure as in Kas^ina senegalensis. However, the median part is not strap- like; it is well delimited by a border, not only on the sides but also in front, and so has much the appearance of a gular disc, as in Afrixalus. The wrinkled skin on the sides is less wrinkled than in K. senegalensis, and thus not likely to be as largely inflated. Coloration (in alcohol) of back almost uniformly blackish, with some hardly distinguishable darker spots, none of which stretches along the mid-dorsal region. Belly pale yellowish with a grayish network between the granules of the skin. Ventral parts of the limbs yellowish, marbled with gray or black. Throat blackish. Paratype. — The paratype is a young female (37 mm.), rather poorly preserved, with a bony excrescence on the exterior side of the right forearm. The dorsal markings are more distinct than in the holotype. The ventral markings are, on the contrary, less conspicuous than in the male: a very faint remnant of reticulation or marbling except below the tibia, where the marbHng is beauti- fully distinct. Throat yellowish with a broad and weak marginal infuscation. Discussion. — The dorsal spot pattern in Kassina ingeri is quite obviously different from that of the sympatric K. senegalensis an- geli Witte as well as from that of any other race of this species; it is also different from K. weali Boulenger or K. wittei Laurent, whose ranges are not far away. The dorsal pattern is indeed like that of Kassina maculosa (Sternfeld) (including maculata Parker and deco- rata Angel), and also resembles somewhat K. mertensi Laurent. These species, however, do not have a ventral network, and their ^ 139 140 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 44 dorsal spots are more conspicuous. Moreover, certain ratio charac- ters permit one to distinguish them from K. ingeri very easily (see Table). COMPARISON OF THREE FORMS OF KASSINA (Ratios given in percentages) maculosa ingeri mertensi (sensu lato) Tibia/snout-vent 33-34 43.5 35-37 Forearm /snout-vent 19-20 33.3 25-28 Third finger /snout-vent 12.5-13.3 18.8 16.5-19.5 Tarsus/snout-vent 19-21 25.2 22.5-26 Width of an upper eyelid /inter- orbital space 53-62 86 67-69 Foot longer shorter as long as tibia than than or a little tibia tibia longer Digital disks none well-developed small Acknowledgments. — I am very grateful to Dr. R. F. Inger for having given me the opportunity of describing this interesting form. My thanks also go to the National Science Foundation whose grant (NSF G17144) supports the studies of which this is a part. I am grateful also to Mr. N. Strekalovsky, who has provided the excellent figures which illustrate this paper. I wish also to express my thanks to Dr. E. E. Williams, who has done me the kindness of reading and correcting my manuscript and who has endeavored to help me in every way since I have been at the Museum of Comparative Zoology.