Werneria

Werneria
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Bufonidae
Genus:	Werneria; Poche, 1903
Species
	6 species (see text)
Synonyms
	Stenoglossa Andersson, 1903 – preoccupied by Stenoglossa Chaudoir (Coleoptera) ; Werneria Poche, 1903 – replacement name ; Mo Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021 ;

Werneria, also known as the torrent toads¹² or smalltongue toads,¹ is a small genus of "true toads", family Bufonidae.¹²³ They are found in western Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Cameroon),¹² with the greatest species richness in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon.⁴ The species generally have restricted or patchy distributions²⁴ and are considered threatened.⁴

Etymology

The genus is named after Franz Werner, Austrian zoologist and herpetologist who was active in Africa.⁵

Description

Werneria are medium-sized toads² with a snout-to-vent length between 3 and 5 cm (1.2–2.0 in); females tend to be larger than males.⁴ They do not have hearing organs, vocal sacs (they are silent), nor parotoid glands. Skin is smooth. Toe webbing ranges from rudimentary to full. Tadpoles have a short, muscular tail and a flat body with a huge sucker mouth.²

Species

Binomial name and author¹²³	Common name
Werneria bambutensis (Amiet, 1972)	Bamboutos smalltongue toad, Bambuto torrent toad
Werneria iboundji Rödel, Schmitz, Pauwels & Böhme, 2004	Iboundji torrent toad
Werneria mertensiana Amiet, 1976	Mertens' smalltongue toad, Mertens' torrent toad
Werneria preussi (Matschie, 1893)	Buea smalltongue toad, Preuss' torrent toad
Werneria submontana Rödel, Schmitz, Pauwels & Böhme, 2004	hill torrent toad
Werneria tandyi (Amiet, 1972)	Tandy's smalltongue toad, Tandy's torrent toad

Habitat

Werneria are associated with torrential forest streams, which also is their breeding habitat. Tadpoles use their sucker mouth to cling to the rocks. Outside the breeding season, adult toads can be found in leaf litter far away from streams. They are known from altitudes between 560–2,600 m (1,840–8,530 ft) ²

References

Frost, Darrel R. (2016). "Werneria Poche, 1903". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
Channing, Allan & Rödel, Mark-Oliver (2019). Field Guide to the Frogs & other Amphibians of Africa. Cape Town: Struik Nature. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-1-77584-512-6.
"Bufonidae". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
Rödel, Mark-Oliver; Schmitz, Andreas; Pauwels, Olivier S.G. & Böhme, Wolfgang (2004). "Revision of the genus Werneria Poche, 1903, including the descriptions of two new species from Cameroon and Gabon (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae)". Zootaxa. 720 (1): 1–28. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.720.1.1.
Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-907807-42-8.

[Frost-1] Frost, Darrel R. (2016). "Werneria Poche, 1903". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 7 July 2016.

[Channing_and_Rödel_2019-2] Channing, Allan & Rödel, Mark-Oliver (2019). Field Guide to the Frogs & other Amphibians of Africa. Cape Town: Struik Nature. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-1-77584-512-6.

[AmphibiaWeb-3] "Bufonidae". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.

[Rödel_et_al._2004-4] Rödel, Mark-Oliver; Schmitz, Andreas; Pauwels, Olivier S.G. & Böhme, Wolfgang (2004). "Revision of the genus Werneria Poche, 1903, including the descriptions of two new species from Cameroon and Gabon (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae)". Zootaxa. 720 (1): 1–28. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.720.1.1.

[Beolens_et_al._2013-5] Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-907807-42-8.

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