DOI: 10.15468/ue5nh4
title: Amphibians of Kokolopori: an introduction to the amphibian fauna of the Central Congolian Lowland Forests, Democratic Republic of the Congo

description: This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Badjedjea, Gabriel, Masudi, Franck M., Akaibe, Benjamin Dudu, Gvoždík, Václav (2022): Amphibians of Kokolopori: an introduction to the amphibian fauna of the Central Congolian Lowland Forests, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 301) 16 (1): 35-70, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12761585Abstract. —The fauna of the Central Congolian Lowland Forests ecoregion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is poorly known due to the region’s remoteness and limited accessibility. An amphibian survey was conducted in Kokolopori, including the Kokolopori Bonobo Nature Reserve, to fill this gap in our knowledge of its amphibians. All major habitat types were surveyed using visual and acoustic encounter surveys, pitfall and funnel trapping, and active searching during four field sessions, totaling 48 days. A total of 37 species of anuran amphibians were recorded, while caecilians were unknown to the local human population based on the photographs presented. Incidence-based species richness statistics estimated 37–41 amphibian species, indicating that our survey was probably nearly complete, but we assume that some rare species or species with secretive behaviors have probably remained overlooked. Approximately 75–80% of the total number of species were recorded during each of the two-week portions of the fieldwork, suggesting that two weeks of intensive surveys may have good potential for amphibian inventories in Afrotropical forests. The relatively low number of species for this equatorial rainforest is probably a consequence of its climatic history, with the central Congo being at a certain level of drought during the Pleistocene glaciations. The amphibian fauna is mainly represented by forest species that inhabit the lowland forests of Central Africa. Species restricted to intact primary forests or more euryecious species of forested ecozones were recorded. Several representatives of genus Arthroleptis could not be assigned to any of the described species, and probably represent species new to science. Representatives of some other genera (Leptopelis, Sclerophrys) resembled species known from western Central Africa, but morphological differences suggested that they probably also represent new species. The taxonomic status of Arthroleptis procterae De Witte, 1921 and Hyperolius boulengeri Laurent, 1943 are revised. Range extensions were found for several taxa, including those known only from the original descriptions. The lack of ubiquitous synanthropic toad species of genus Sclerophrys can probably be attributed to the well-preserved Kokolopori forests and only narrow corridors of disturbed habitat (small paths) leading into the area. Interestingly, some degree of biofluorescence was recorded in Hyperolius phantasticus boulengeri, which to our knowledge is the first documented case in an African anuran. Despite the relatively low species richness, our results suggest that the Central Congolian Lowland Forests ecoregion harbors a unique and partially endemic amphibian fauna that is to some degree differentiated from the anuran fauna to the north, east, and west of the wide arc of the Congo River. Therefore, this survey underscores the need to protect the central Congolian rainforests as a source of unique biodiversity, and the community-based Kokolopori Bonobo Nature Reserve serves as a good example.