Pyxicephalus Differences

[tgampper]

Thank you very much, Terry! That is great to begin to see why the confusion exists. And if a seller does not have an interest in pixies, I can see how the confusion can easily pass by their inspection.

Thanks for the comment, Jeff! I am sure that a few breeders/importers sell frogs without knowing what species they are. A local pet shop was selling a beautiful toad but didn't know what species it was, I was the one who did some research and identified it. Why should the buyer have to do the "dirty work"?

Yes, an article would be fantastic. We could even include it with a specific guide on sexing them as well. Pictures of the contrasting differences would really help. I am highly visual and love the visual reference.

I am not sure how to put the article on the forum, that is why I provided a link to my website. Maybe John or Kurt would be able to figure it out. I am also highly visual and love lots of pictures. John is the "pyxie guru" and could help out with the sexing issue. My main interest is in Pipidae and amphibian taxonomy.

Wow, if only studying a species in the field would actually pay something. Very sad that to get the information, someone must give up everything to dive completely into the study.

That would be so cool to do some real field research. The zoo I worked at has a close relationship with the Jo-burg Zoo and the South African Amphibian Conservation Center. I had an opportunity to work with Mantellas, Madagascar rain frogs, African reed frogs and several critically endangered/extinct in the wild amphibians. It was a great experience!

Question, Terry. Where does this funny 'species'(used very loosely) coming from Tanzania fit? It really looks like edulis.

You have to remember that the family Pyxicephalidae has some 67 species and to make it more confusing is that species are being assigned into mew genera. As DNA analysis improves, biologists are finding out that species they thought were related are in reality not related at all. That's one reason why Pyxicephalus was split into at least two genera. Some scientists consider adspersus and edulis to be subspecies. There is a third species, P. obbianus that is endemic to Somalia which I don't know much about right now. I understand that there are Pyxie hybrids around. Maybe that's your "funny species"!