African wart frog
Acanthixalus spinosus
SUBFAMILY
Hyperoliinae
TAXONOMY
Hyperolius spinosus Buchholz and Peters, 1875, Cameroon. No subspecies are recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Both sexes attain lengths up to 1.4 in (3.6 cm). The dorsum is very warty, grayish to brown, with transverse darker bands.
DISTRIBUTION
The species occurs in the northern part of the Cameroon-Congo rainforest.
HABITAT
This frog inhabits dense rainforest.
BEHAVIOR
Acanthixalus spinosus seems to spend life in small holes filled with water in tree trunks and branches. Adults spend the days submerged with their nostrils just above water and may emerge to forage at night. If attacked, the frog closes its eyes, keeps its limbs close to the body, and sticks out its orange tongue.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Nothing is known, although the diet most likely consists of arthropods of a suitable size.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
This frog apparently is mute. Eight to 10 eggs are placed in a sticky jelly just above water in a small water body in a tree. The tadpoles fall into the water, where they grow very slowly (for a tropical frog), probably because of scarcity of food. Up to three months are required before metamorphosis.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Nothing is known about the conservation status of this frog, but the forests in its range are degrading rapidly.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
