Endangered
Micro frog
Microbatrachella capensis
Micro frog is a frog in the family Pyxicephalidae (order Anura) — Microbatrachella capensis, recorded as Endangered and tied to South Africa.
Appearance
The micro frog is a very small frog with a rounded snout and smooth skin. The dorsal surface is dark brown speckled with pale brown, and there is a pale band of color running down each flank. The underparts are pale brown and the belly spotted with white.
At around 18 mm (0.71 in) long, it is one of the smallest regional species.
The micro frog, or Cape Flats frog, is a frog less than 2 cm (0.8 in) long in the family Pyxicephalidae, in the monotypic genus Microbatrachella.
Range and habitat
The micro frog is endemic to the south-western Cape area of South Africa, with a single population found on the Cape Flats of Cape Town and a series of populations on the eastern side of False Bay, from Kogelberg to Cape Agulhas. Its natural habitat is at low altitudes, in and around shallow, vegetated freshwater wetlands in coastal restioid fynbos, a Mediterranean-type vegetation dominated by restios (Cape reed). Typically, these wetlands have some areas of permanent water along with other areas inundated during the winter–spring rainy season.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
It is associated with seepages and ephemeral pools, and depends on dark, acidic waters for breeding. The breeding season starts with the arrival of the rainy season, usually between July and September.
In crisis
Its color varies from rufous brown with dark mottling, to tan or green, depending on the population. It is endemic to the south-western Cape area of South Africa, with a single population found on the Cape Flats of Cape Town and several populations on the eastern side of False Bay. It typically lives in wetlands in coastal fynbos habitats, but its total area of occupancy is very small, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being "critically endangered".
Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.
Micro frog is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Micro frog, Wikidata item Q968209. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
