About
Parhoplophryne is a monotypic frog genus, meaning that Parhoplophryne usambarica is the sole species in this genus.
The Amani Forest Frog is endemic to the East Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. This species has only ever been collected once with one specimen. This specimen was collected in the 1920s found inside a wild banana, and it has not been recorded since, despite extensive herpetological work in the Amani area. With this, very little is known about the habitat and ecology of this species and it is feared this species has gone extinct. The general area where this species was found has been historically impacted by tea plantations established in the 1930s and continued tea plantations throughout several decades. If still existing, this species could occur in the Amani Nature Reserve, although it has not been recorded there. Extensive and urgent survey work is required to determine the status of this species and whether or not it even survives in the wild.
This species is part of the Microhylid frog family and molecular data has shown that the initial divergence of the Microhylidae family to have taken place about 66 millions of years ago, or immediately after the Cretaceous extinction event.
This species is also known as the Usambara Black-banded Frog
- Order: Anura
- Family: Microhylidae
- Population: Possibly extinct
- Trend: unknown
- Size: 23mm
EDGE Score
Distribution
This species is known only from the hills to the west of Amani, in the East Usambara Mountains, in north eastern Tanzania, 900 metres above sea level.
Habitat and Ecology
The only known individual was found in a wild banana in a forested hill.