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Tomopterna natalensis (Smith, 1849)

Source-backed taxonomic record

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.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Natal sand frog (Tomopterna natalensis) is a species of frog in the family Pyxicephalidae.

It is found in Mozambique, South Africa, and Eswatini, and possibly Botswana, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, and ponds.

Wikipedia contributors, Natal sand frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:54:05.697441+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Tomopterna natalensis (Smith, 1849)
Name authority
(Smith, 1849)
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Amphibia
Order
Anura
Family
Pyxicephalidae
Genus
Tomopterna
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classAmphibia
  9. orderAnura
  10. familyPyxicephalidae Bonaparte, 1850
  11. subfamilyCacosterninae Noble, 1931
  12. genusTomopterna Duméril & Bibron, 1841
  13. speciesTomopterna natalensis (Smith, 1849)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Tomopterna. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Tomopterna delalandii (Tschudi, 1838)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna gallmanni Wasonga & Channing, 2013PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna kachowskii (Nikolskii, 1900)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna wambensis Wasonga & Channing, 2013PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna ahli (Deckert, 1938)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna pulchra (Boulenger, 1896)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna branchi Wilson & Channing, 2019PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna krugerensis Passmore & Carruthers, 1975PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna luganga Channing, Moyer & Dawood, 2004PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna marmorata (Peters, 1854)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna milletihorsini (Angel, 1922)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Tomopterna monticola (Fischer, 1884)PyxicephalidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 66 records assigned to Pyxicephalidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Pyxicephalus pondoensis Power, 1935 Power, 1935synonym
Rana natalensis (Smith, 1849) (Smith, 1849)synonym
Pyxicephalus natalensis Smith, 1849 Smith, 1849synonym

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.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=665473 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:57DRR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.