Natal dwarf puddle frog
species of amphibian
The Natal dwarf puddle frog (Phrynobatrachus natalensis) is a species of frog in the family Phrynobatrachidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burkina Faso, Chad, Lesotho, and Mauritania.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, ponds, and seasonally flooded agricultural land.
Description
The Natal dwarf puddle frog is a small frog with a rounded snout and warty skin, growing to a snout-to-vent length of about 25 to 31 mm (1.0 to 1.2 in). The digits do not have enlarged tips and the fingers are unwebbed. It has a uniformly coloured greenish or brownish dorsal surface, slightly darker around the warts, and a whitish belly. The male has a prominent white-spotted, black vocal sac on the throat during the breeding season.
Behaviour
The Natal dwarf puddle frog feeds on a variety of invertebrates including beetles, termites, bugs, flies, cockroaches, grasshoppers, butterflies and spiders. Termites may be the most-frequently eaten food item.
This frog breeds in the rainy season.
“Natal dwarf puddle frog” enters the record as species of amphibian. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Natal, dwarf and puddle can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Natal dwarf puddle frog” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Natal, dwarf and puddle provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q640592. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Natal dwarf puddle frog”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Natal dwarf puddle frog primary sources, Natal dwarf puddle frog archive and Natal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Natal dwarf puddle frog”?
- Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Natal dwarf puddle frog” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.