The four-digit toad or dwarf toad (''Didynamipus sjostedti'') is a species of

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

in the family

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * C ...

. It is found in

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

(Equatorial Guinea), southwestern Cameroon, and southeastern Nigeria. It is the only species in the genus ''Didynamipus''.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''sjostedti'' honours

Bror Yngve Sjöstedt Bror Yngve Sjöstedt (August 3, 1866, Hjo – 1948) was a Swedish naturalist. Sjöstedt gained his degree and his doctorate in 1896 at the University of Uppsala. He worked as an assistant in Statens Entomologiska Anstalt from 1897 to 1902, bec ...

, a Swedish entomologist and ornithologist who collected the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

Description

''Didynamipus sjostedti'' are very small toads: males grow to and females to in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

. The snout is sharp in males but rounded in females; males also have a ridge on the top the snout that gives it an upturned appearance. The tympanum is absent. The hands and feet are reduced, with the two outer fingers and toes and the innermost toes present only as tubercles. No webbing is present. The dorsum is brown with lighter and darker mottling.

Habitat and conservation

''Didynamipus sjostedti'' occur on forest edges and in clearings in moist forest at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

, often in mixed-sex and mixed-lifestage aggregations. They can occur both in leaf litter and perched atop low vegetation. Individuals found near terretrial egg masses suggest terrestrial breeding and direct development (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). This species appears to tolerate some habitat modification and has also been found in secondary forest and farmland, although it is still considered threatened by habitat loss primarily caused by agricultural expansion. It is known from inside or near several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10755439, from2=Q2670468 Bufonidae Frogs of Africa Amphibians of West Africa Amphibians of Cameroon Amphibians of Equatorial Guinea Fauna of Nigeria Amphibians described in 1903 Taxa named by Lars Gabriel Andersson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot