Chiromantis xerampelina Peters, 1854

Open encyclopedia reference

The grey foam-nest tree frog (Chiromantis xerampelina), or southern foam-nest tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. They are found in southern Africa.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forests, ponds, and canals and ditches.

Grey foam-nest tree frogs are known for simultaneous polyandry, where female frogs have multiple mates on separate territories that guard the eggs and care for young. This behavior is owed to their external fertilization mechanism. During the mating process, the female frog produces a foam nest, typically on branches that hang above bodies of water, in order to keep her eggs moist as they develop. This practice is what gives the grey foam-nest tree frogs their name.

Wikipedia contributors, Grey foam-nest tree frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T15:39:53.243993+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Chiromantis xerampelina Peters, 1854

Name authority

Peters, 1854

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Anura

Family

Rhacophoridae

Genus

Chiromantis

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. familyRhacophoridae Hoffman, 1932
11. subfamilyRhacophorinae Hoffman, 1932
12. genusChiromantis Peters, 1854
13. speciesChiromantis xerampelina Peters, 1854

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 395 records assigned to Rhacophoridae.

Names & synonyms

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

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=665496 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:5XSV7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.