Common Name: Bate’s Night Frog, Benito River Night Frog, River Night Frog
Scientific Name: Astylosternus batesi
Family: Arthroleptidae
Location: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon
Female Size: 2.9 inches (73.5 mm)
Male Size: 1.8 – 2.0 inches (45 – 53 mm)
The Bate’s Night Frog has two breeding seasons, one from March to June and one from September to December. The end of the mating seasons coincide with the start of the dry seasons. The male frogs call near small streams. The female frogs lay their eggs in pools of still permanent water. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that develop in the streams until they complete their metamorphosis.
As the name suggests, the Bate’s Night Frog is nocturnal which is common in frogs. The other half of the name honors George Griswold Latimer Bates, an American naturalist who described over 60 species, including the Goliath Frog, the largest living frog species.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Bate’s Night Frog as Least Concern for Extinction. The frog has a wide range and a presumed large population. Overall, the populations is decreasing due to decrease in habitat from agriculture and logging expansion.