Ptychadena mascareniensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
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Open encyclopedia reference
The Mascarene grass frog (Ptychadena mascareniensis), or Mascarene ridged frog, is a species of frog in the family Ptychadenidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and Mauritius.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical swamps, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, sandy shores, arable land, pastureland, plantations, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, water storage areas, ponds, aquaculture ponds, irrigated land, seasonally flooded agricultural land, and canals and ditches.
Phylogeography / History
Ptychadena mascareniensis is the only African amphibian species thought to occur on Madagascar and the Mascarene islands.
Madagascar was populated by Ptychadena frogs before the arrival of humans 2000 years ago.
Wikipedia contributors, Mascarene grass frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:21:59.576422+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ptychadena mascareniensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)
- Name authority
- (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Ptychadenidae
- Genus
- Ptychadena
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyPtychadenidae Dubois, 1987
- genusPtychadena Boulenger, 1917
- speciesPtychadena mascareniensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ptychadena. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ptychadena aequiplicata (Werner, 1898) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena ansorgii (Boulenger, 1905) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena baroensis Smith, Noonan & Colston, 2017 | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena bibroni (Hallowell, 1845) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena broadleyi Stevens, 1972 | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena bunoderma (Boulenger, 1907) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena christyi (Boulenger, 1919) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena keilingi (Monard, 1937) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena levenorum Smith, Noonan & Colston, 2017 | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena longirostris (Peters, 1870) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena mahnerti Perret, 1996 | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ptychadena mossambica (Peters, 1854) | PtychadenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ptychadena hylaea Schmidt & Inger, 1959 Schmidt & Inger, 1959 | synonym |
| Rana idae Steindachner, 1864 Steindachner, 1864 | synonym |
| Hyperolius nigrescens (Steindachner, 1864) (Steindachner, 1864) | synonym |
| Rana mascariensis Duméril & Bibron, 1841 Duméril & Bibron, 1841 | synonym |
| Rana mascareniensis Duméril & Bibron, 1841 Duméril & Bibron, 1841 | synonym |
| Rana nigrescens Steindachner, 1864 Steindachner, 1864 | synonym |
| Ptychadena mascareniensis mascareniensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) | synonym |
| Rana savignyi Jan, 1857 Jan, 1857 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=665225 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Q9QX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.