Bioacoustics of Hyperolius viridiflavus

Hyperolius burgeoni De Witte, 1921 and Rappia rossii Calabresi, 1925 were provisionally removed from the synonymy of H. viridiflavus as both occur in northern DRC where the H. viridiflavus clade has not been recorded, and placed in the synonymy of H. parallelus . Hyperolius viridiflavus angeli Laurent, 1951 from the Central African Republic was removed from the synonymy of H. viridiflavus which does not occur north of the Congo Basin and placed in the synonymy of Hyperolius nitidulus . Altogether 28 sequences were available from Uganda , northern Tanzania , the Kenyan highlands, Burundi , Rwanda , and Ethiopia . The minimum uncorrected p- distances from other clades were 4.2–7.6% ( Table 2 ). The sequences were reported in GenBank as Hyperolius viridiflavus , H. v. viridiflavus , H. v. variabilis , H. v. destefanii , and H. v. bayoni . The earliest species description in this complex is Hyperolius viridiflavus Duméril & Bibron, 1841 , from Adwa in Ethiopia . Only one clade has records from Ethiopia , and this clade is assigned to H. viridiflavus ( Fig. 4 ). See Table 3 for localities of synonyms. The map reflects the distribution in Ethiopia reported in Largen & Spawls (2010) . The most common pattern elements in the descriptions of the types included in H. viridiflavus are small blue, black or red dark spots (26%), with the next most common elements being marbling on the back (22%), a dark lateral band (19%), and various markings arranged in longitudinal rows (19%). The percentages are not additive, as some individuals share pattern elements. Many of the descriptions were based on preserved material, and a large number of colour patterns is expected when fresh material is examined. Figure 3 illustrates some of the patterns recognised by Laurent (1983) and Ahl (1931) for material they described, here recognised as H. viridiflavus . This sample indicates the problems of identification based on colour patterns. Lötters et al . (2004) illustrate a call (as H. viridiflavus ) from Kakamega Forest, Kenya with a distinct pulsed structure and an emphasised frequency of 2971 Hz. A specimen from the same locality was sequenced ( AY323920 ) ( Lötters et al . 2004 ) and found within the H. viridiflavus clade. An advertisement call from Kitale, Kenya consists of a brief whistle with an emphasised frequency of 2600–3000 Hz ( Schiøtz 1975 as H. v. viridiflavus ). The advertisement call of a specimen from Sango Bay, Uganda , consists of a very brief note with an emphasised frequency of 2400 Hz ( Schiøtz 1999 ).