Tandy's sand frog

About the Tandy's sand frog

Tandy's sand frog (Tomopterna tandyi) is a species of frog in the family Pyxicephalidae. It is found in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and south-western Angola, and from inland Tanzania and Kenya. It probably occurs more widely within and between these two disjunct areas. The specific name tandyi honours Robert Mills Tandy, an American biologist, herpetologist, and photographer and the collector of the type material.

This species is a tetraploid that probably originated as a hybrid between Tomopterna cryptotis and Tomopterna delalandii. It is not possible to distinguish it morphologically from these two species, and many distributional records do not separate between T. tandyi and T. cryptotis.

The holotype, an adult male, measures 38 mm (1.5 in) in snout–vent length. The tympanum is visible. The fingers have no webbing whereas the toes are partially webbed. The dorsum has patches of grey or olive on lighter background. The dorsal warts are reddish brown with black marks. Many individuals have a dark interocular bar.

The male advertisement call is a series of continuously repeated notes. The call rate is about 7–8 notes per second and the emphasized... Wikipedia →