''Hyperolius concolor'', also known as the variable reed frog or Hallowell's sedge frog, 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 occurs in

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

Middle Africa Central Africa ( French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Middle Africa is an anal ...

Distribution

''Hyperolius concolor'' is known from eastern

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and western

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

(here listed from west to east).

Taxonomy

''Hyperolius concolor'' was described in 1884 by Edward Hallowell based on material collected from Liberia. A large number of species described in later years have been brought into

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with it. One

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, ''Hyperolius concolor ibadanensis'' Schiøtz, 1967 from Nigeria and Cameroon, is recognized, in addition to the nominotypical subspecies and one unnamed subspecies, the latter also from Nigeria and Cameroon.

Description

''Hyperolius concolor'' is a medium to large-sized member of its genus, with males measuring and females about in snout–vent length. The snout is long and pointed. The

pupil The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black becau ...

is horizontal. There are two colour phases. All juveniles and many mature males display phase "J", which is normally brownish to green in colour and shows paired light dorsolateral lines or an hourglass pattern. All females, and some males, develop into phase "F" prior to the first breeding season. This phase is often colourful and variable, with uniformly green dorsum, yellow ventrum, and no dark lateral pigmentation. Also intermediate forms are found. Male advertisement call is a succession of brief, hard and non-melodic "clicks".

Habitat and conservation

''Hyperolius concolor'' occurs in forest clearings and degraded forest, and in cultivated land, secondary brush, and

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

s in

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

; it avoids closed forest habitats. Breeding takes place in small (even putrid) pools and marshes. The eggs are laid on folded leaves above water; the

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 fall into the water and continue their development there. It is an abundant species that is probably increasing because its habitat is increasing, even though it could locally suffer from habitat loss. It is sometimes found in the international pet trade, but not at levels that would pose a threat. It occurs in many protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1943750 concolor Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Cameroon Amphibians of West Africa Amphibians described in 1844 Taxa named by Edward Hallowell (herpetologist) Taxonomy articles created by Polbot