Werneria bambutensis Amiet 1972
Creators: name: Rödel, Mark-Oliver
name: Schmitz, Andreas
name: Pauwels, Olivier S. G.
name: Böhme, Wolfgang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2004
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Bufonidae
Werneria
Werneria bambutensis

description: Werneria bambutensis (Amiet, 1972)
Figs. 1 b, 2b, 3b, 4b
Holotype.— MHNG 1253.92 (formerly JLA 71.026), female, Mts. Bamboutos, app. 2,600 m, Cameroon, 21.II.1971, J.­L. Amiet.
Additional material examined.— MHNG 1453.17–19, two males, one female, Mts. Bamboutos, top of mountain, Cameroon, 24.III.1973, J.­L. Perret.
Diagnosis.— Smallest Werneria species; compact body; rounded snout; skin with micro­reticulation; neither sex with distinct, clear dorsolateral lines; belly without white spots; hind legs short and thick, without black bars, toes completely webbed; enlarged terminal phalange; head of males beset with minute spines; first finger of reproductive males with smooth, subdigital excrescence.
Description.— Males reach 28.4–32.5 mm SVL, females 30.4–38.0 mm; compact body shape; snout short and broad but rounded, not truncate; skin dull with micro­reticulation (Fig. 1 b); dorsum in life dark greenish olive, in alcohol uniform brown to black, sometimes clear bronze with a gold shimmer or with blackish speckles; no obvious division between back and flank colour, however flank slightly darker in colour; no clear dorsolateral lines, only rarely traces of these lines on sides of head; no black bars on hind legs; ventral surface varies from uniform grey, to a dirty white, or whitish venter with greyish spots (Fig. 2 b); hind legs comparatively short and thick; toes fully webbed (Fig. 3 b); webbing more extensive during the reproductive season and more pronounced in males than in females; sides of head and lower jaw in males densely beset with minute spines (Fig. 4 b); first finger of reproductive males with smooth, subdigital excrescence; finger and especially toes of both sexes swollen during reproductive season.
Natural history.— W. bambutensis is a montane species of the Cameroon highlands, rarely occurring below 2,100–2,200 m a.s.l. It inhabits grassland as well as forest strips along fast­flowing streams. In the dry season it was found below stones in torrent water (Amiet 1972, 1975, 1976b; Gartshore 1984). The extensive webbing suggests a more aquatic life than that of other species of the genus. Adults and gravid females have been seen by J.­L. Amiet on Mt. Manengouba in February. Two dissected females contained 380 and 483 unpigmented eggs (2 mm dia., Amiet 1976b). On Mt. Manengouba tadpoles were abundant in fast flowing streams (Amiet 1976b). These tadpoles are similar to those of W. preussi but have a more robust body that is dark brown. The tail is speckled with golden chromatophores (Amiet 1972). In the rainy season after reproduction is completed, adults appear to disperse into open bamboo glades and relict forests (Amiet 1975, 1976b). W. bambutensis tolerates dry seasons longer than two months, and lower temperatures at greater temperature ranges and higher altitudes than any other species of the genus (Amiet 1972). The other two Werneria species occurring on Mt. Manengouba (W. tandyi and W. mertensiana) are separated from W. bambutensis along an altitudinal gradient (Amiet 1975, 1976b). According to Amiet (1976a, 1989), W. bambutensis is mute.
Distribution.— W. bambutensis was described from Mts. Bamboutos, Cameroon, at 2,600 m a.s.l. (Amiet 1972). It is known to occur at high altitudes between the Mts.
Manengouba and Okou in Cameroon (Fig. 5; Amiet 1972, 1975, 1976b). One male was caught at 1,750 m in the valley of Jungwé River, near Mouandong, southwest flank of Mt. Manengouba. Gartshore (1984) speculated that it might occur at Santa. This was confirmed by J.­L. Amiet (pers. comm.) who collected an adult female (JLA 75.331) on Mt. Neshele at about 2,200 m a.s.l.
description: Published as part of 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), pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 720 on pages 5-9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.158599