Conraua sagyimase
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Atewa Slippery Frog
This is almost certainly the most endangered species of frog I've ever seen. These were previously classified as Togo Slippery Frogs (Conraua derooi), which are known from only a handful of locations and considered critically endangered. But Ghana frog expert Caleb Ofori Boateng, one of the leaders in the effort to save the habitat of this frog, told us during our visit that recent genetic studies have shown that the frogs known from this one location in Ghana are distinct enough to be a separate species (and thus, obviously, even more critically endangered than Conraua derooi itself). This new species was published in 2021 as Conraua sagyimase, named after a village near these frogs' only known location.
Online references:
- Conraua sagyimase account on AmphibiaWeb
- Conraua sagyimase account on Amphibian Species of the World
- Karla Neira-Salamea, Caleb Ofori-Boateng, N’Goran G. Kouamé, David C. Blackburn, Gabriel H. Segniagbeto, Annika Hillers, Michael F. Barej, Adam D. Leaché & Mark-Oliver Rödel, 2021. A new critically endangered slippery frog (Amphibia, Conrauidae, Conraua) from the Atewa Range, central Ghana
- Ofori-Boateng, C., A. Damoah, G.B. Adum, S. Nsiah, E. Nkrumah and D. Saykay-Tuabeng, 2012. Conservation of the Critically Endangered Togo Slippery Frog (Conraua derooi), in Eastern Ghana