Altiphrynoides Explained

Altiphrynoides is a genus of toads, commonly referred to as Ethiopian toads. They are restricted to highlands of south-central Ethiopia in the Arussi, Bale and Sidamo Provinces.^[1] Both species are threatened by habitat loss.^[2] They were formerly included in Nectophrynoides, but lack the unusual reproductive mode of those species (they lay eggs, while Nectophrynoides give birth to fully developed young). Conversely, some authorities treat Altiphrynoides as a monotypic genus for A. malcolmi, placing A. osgoodi in another monotypic genus, Spinophrynoides.^{[2] [3]}

Species

There are two species:^{[1] [4]}

Binomial name and author	Common name
Altiphrynoides malcolmi	Malcolm's Ethiopian toad
Altiphrynoides osgoodi	Osgood's Ethiopian toad

Notes and References

1. Web site: Altiphrynoides Dubois, 1987 . Frost, Darrel R. . 2014 . Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 . American Museum of Natural History . 5 September 2014.
2. Stuart et al., eds. (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. IUCN. Pp. 156 and 204.
3. Wells (2007). The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians. P. 487.
4. Web site: Bufonidae . 2014 . AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application] . Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb . 5 September 2014.