Fuelleborn's stream frog or long-toed grass frog (''Strongylopus fuelleborni'') 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

Pyxicephalidae The Pyxicephalidae are a Family (biology), family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon ''Thaumastosaurus'' lived in Europe. Classification The Pyxicephalidae contain two subfamilies, with a total of 1 ...

. It is found in the mountains of

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and northeastern

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are montane grasslands 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 ...

. Outside the breeding season, it can be found far from water. During the breeding season, males call from flooded grass. The egg clusters are laid just above streams, underneath dense vegetation.

Tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s develop in the streams. ''Strongylopus fuelleborni'' is a common species, but its montane grassland habitats are threatened in parts of its range because of afforestation,

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

, agriculture, human settlement, and spread invasive trees such as eucalyptus. These changes can lead to siltation of the breeding streams. The species is known from a few protected areas and probably occurs in several others.

References

Strongylopus Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Malawi Amphibians of Tanzania Amphibians of Zambia Amphibians described in 1911 Taxa named by Fritz Nieden Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Ranoidea-stub