Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 26, 2026

Nectophrynoides

Nectophrynoides is a genus of true toads, family Bufonidae. They are endemic to Eastern Arc forests and wetlands in Tanzania, and all except N. tornieri are threatened. Species of the genus are ovoviviparous: fertilization is internal, and the females give birth to fully developed, small toadlets. Together with the West Africa Nimbaphrynoides and Limnonectes larvaepartus, they are the only frogs/toads in the world that do not lay eggs. The Ethiopian Altiphrynoides, which lay eggs, were also part of Nectophrynoides in the past.

Last revised
Jun 26, 2026
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Nectophrynoides
Kihansi spray toad, Nectophrynoides asperginis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Nectophrynoides
Noble, 1926
Type species
Nectophryne tornieri
Roux, 1906
Synonyms1

Tornierobates
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926

Nectophrynoides is a genus of true toads, family Bufonidae. They are endemic to Eastern Arc forests and wetlands in Tanzania,12 and all except N. tornieri are threatened. Species of the genus are ovoviviparous: fertilization is internal, and the females give birth to fully developed, small toadlets.2 Together with the West Africa Nimbaphrynoides (which was included in Nectophrynoides in the past) and Limnonectes larvaepartus, they are the only frogs/toads in the world that do not lay eggs.34 The Ethiopian Altiphrynoides (includes Spinophrynoides), which lay eggs, were also part of Nectophrynoides in the past.3

Species

The genus Nectophrynoides contains 16 accepted species.1

Binomial name and authority Common name
Nectophrynoides asperginis Poynton, Howell, Clarke & Lovett, 1999 Kihansi spray toad
Nectophrynoides cryptus Perret, 1971 secret tree toad
Nectophrynoides frontierei Menegon, Salvidio & Loader, 2004 frontier forest toad
Nectophrynoides laevis Menegon, Salvidio & Loader, 2004 smooth forest toad
Nectophrynoides laticeps Channing, Menegon, Salvidio & Akker, 2005
Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis Thrane, Lyakurwa, Liedtke, Menegon, Petzold, Loader & Scherz, 2025
Nectophrynoides minutus Perret, 1972 minute tree toad
Nectophrynoides paulae Menegon, Salvidio, Ngalason & Loader, 2007
Nectophrynoides poyntoni Menegon, Salvidio & Loader, 2004 Poynton's forest toad
Nectophrynoides pseudotornieri Menegon, Salvidio & Loader, 2004 pseudo forest toad
Nectophrynoides saliensis Thrane, Lyakurwa, Liedtke, Menegon, Petzold, Loader & Scherz, 2025
Nectophrynoides tornieri (Roux, 1906) Tornier's Tree Toad
Nectophrynoides uhehe Thrane, Lyakurwa, Liedtke, Menegon, Petzold, Loader & Scherz, 2025
Nectophrynoides vestergaardi Menegon, Salvidio & Loader, 2004 Vestergaard's forest toad
Nectophrynoides viviparus (Tornier, 1905) Morogoro tree toad
Nectophrynoides wendyae Clarke, 1988 Uzungwe Scarp tree toad
References

References

  1. Frost, Darrel R. (2017). "Nectophrynoides Noble, 1926". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  2. Channing, A., Howell, K.M. (2006). Amphibians of East Africa. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. 418 pp. ISBN 3-930612-53-4. (Genus Nectophrynoides, pp. 104–117).
  3. Wells, K.D. (2007). The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians. Chigago: University of Chicago Press. 1,160 pp. ISBN 978-0-226-89334-1. (Genus Nectophrynoides, pp. 486–487).
  4. Iskandar, D.T.; Evans, B.J.; McGuire, J.A. (2014). "A novel reproductive mode in frogs: a new species of fanged frog with internal fertilization and birth of tadpoles". PLoS One. 9 (12) e115884. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9k5884I. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115884. PMC 4281041. PMID 25551466.
External links