''Afrixalus clarkei'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Hyperoliidae The Hyperoliidae, or sedge frogs and bush frogs, are a large family of small to medium-sized, brightly colored frogs which contain more than 250 species in 19 genera. Seventeen genera are native to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the monotypic g ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to southwestern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and has been recorded from near Chira,

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrativ ...

Bonga Bonga is a town, woreda and one of the multicapital of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region in Ethiopia. Located in the Keffa Zone upon a hill in the upper Barta valley, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,714 meters a ...

, and Bodare. 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 ...

''clarkei'' honours Mr and Mrs R. O. S. Clarke (hence emendation to plural ''clarkeorum'', but such change is nevertheless considered unjustified under the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

), who are acknowledged for their help and hospitality. Common name Clarke's banana frog has been coined for this species.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The head is broad with short snout. The tympanum ranges from completely hidden to somewhat noticeable. The fingers are unwebbed or have some webbing between the fingers III and IV. The toes are moderately webbed. Dorsal skin is smooth, but chest and abdomen may be rather coarsely granular. The dorsum is yellow-green to bright green, sometimes rarely olive to dark brown, with some scattered small white flecks and larger dark brown spots. There is a pair of dorsolateral lines or rows of dark brown spots, and broad brown lateral stripe running from the tip of the snout over the eye and reaching almost the groin. Males have yellow

gular Gular may refer to: Pertaining to the throat * Gular scales in reptiles * Gular scute, or gular projection, in turtles and tortoises * Gular fold in lizards * Gular skin, or gular sac, in birds and some gibbons Other uses *Gular, another name of ...

flap. The male advertisement call consists of an initial creak, followed by a small number of metallic clicks.

Habitat and conservation

''Afrixalus clarkei'' is found in tropical deciduous forests and forest edges as well as in some moderately modified secondary habitats such as coffee plantations 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 ...

. It has recently been recorded also in marshes and riverine floodplains in open disturbed landscapes. ''Afrixalus clarkei'' breeds in marshy pools with emergent vegetation. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

caused by selective logging and encroachment of agriculture and human settlements. It is present in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1942887 clarkei Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Ethiopia Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Amphibians described in 1974 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot