Kassina senegalensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841), and Happy Earth Day.

The whole random selection of taxa game really isn't my thing. I re-ran it until it selected one I felt like featuring on Earth Day.

While I'm very fond of the animal, the picture isn't all that great:

Photographed in Chongwe, Lusaka, Zambia in November 2011, using Olympus E-420 DSLR, 40-150mm Zuiko lens and 2 KOOD magnifiers. I think.

In English, this is a Senegal Running Frog, or Senegal Kassina; in Chewa (Malawi/Zambia) Chule and Namchidwe cover all manner of frogs, but if we make that Chule Wothamanga, or Namchidwe Wothamanga, it should mean 'Frog that runs' or 'Runner Frog' - although it seems worthy of note that Wothamanga can also mean prostitute, so we could be talking about a frog lacking in virtue.

The species is also called the Bubbling Kassina, which is referred to in the Afrikaans name of Borrelvleipadda (literally bubble marsh-frog); my father has always referred to them as 'raindrop frogs' in another reference to their distinctly watery call. To avoid any insinuations as to the characters of these frogs, then, I'd take a stab at Namchidwe Wothakamuka (more-or-less bubbling frog) as a more straight-laced name.

In the Shangaan language of neighbouring Mozambique, these - and all kassinas - are Chikwarikwari.

But as always, there is a more universal name, and it is:

Kassina senegalensis

(Duméril & Bibron, 1841)

As a wetland dependant frog, this - and other anamchidwe more generally, are more than just producers of beautiful and evocative calls; they are also valuable assets in keeping insect pests at a manageable level in the rainy season, and, particularly in the tropics, bridge the gap in food-chains between the invertebrates, which they eat, and the diversity of larger vertebrates that feed upon them. 

Unfortunately, their thin skin and water-dependant nature makes them extremely vulnerable to pollution and water-borne diseases, things which become ever more prominent as populations and cities grow all over the world. Not to sound too preachy about it, but frogs like this kassina simply cannot survive the urban spread unless we humans try to pay a little more attention to what we're pumping out into the air and water. 

Now, Earth-day appropriate reminder of the extinction crisis (and no, that's not a doomsday cry, that's acknowledged fact based on the statistics of extinction rates through human history and beforehand) we're living in done with, and now for a quick delve into the taxonomy:

 - Kassininae    
 - Hyperoliidae   
- Brevicipitiforms

See also Breviceps poweri.   

- Ranoidea             

See also Chiromantis xerampelina and Rana temporaria.   

- Neobatrachia        
- Acosmanura           

-  Pipanura                  

- Bombinanura             

- Anura                          

- Salienta                         

- Batrachia                        

- Lissamphibia                     

- Amphibia                            

- Tetrapoda                             

See also Caprimulgus pectoralis, Tockus alboterminatus, Larus argentatus, Sterna hirundo, Burhinus vermiculatus, Troglodytes troglodytes, Megaceryle maxima, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Stigmatopelia senegalensis, Lygodactylus capensis, Thelotornis capensis, Zootoca vivipara, Trachylepis varia, Trachylepis striata wahlbergi, Hipposideros vittatus and Syncerus caffer.  

- Sarcopterygii                              

- Osteichthys                                 

See also Synchiropus splendidus. 

- Teleostomi                                      

- Gnathostomata                               
- Vertebrata                                          

- Craniata                                              

- Chordata                                              

- Deuterostomia                                       

- Nephrozoa                                               

See also Burtoa nilotica, Alopecosa barbipes, Ligia oceanica, Dysdera crocata, Phrynarachne rugosa, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi, Pardosa amentata, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Eremoides bicristatus, Hagenomyia tristis, Dichtha inflata, Oedemera nobilis, Otiorhynchus atroapterus,Malachius bipustulatus , Phyllobius pomaceus, Cheilomenes lunata, Melolontha melolontha, Neojulodis vittipennis, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasinii, Lophyra cf. differens, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Anthophora furcata, Andrena nigroaenea, Zebronia phenice, Crambus pascuella, Nemophora degeerella, Sphinx ligustri, Laelia robusta, Acada biseriata, Metisella willemi, Anthocharis cardamines, Papilio demodocus, Panorpa germanica, Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Metadon inermis, Diasemopsis meigenii, Dolichotachina caudata, Megistocera filipes, Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, Ranatra, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Idolomantis dentifrons, Sibylla pretiosa, Tettigonia viridissima, Stictogryllacris punctata, Enyaliopsis, Humbe tenuicornis, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Cyathosternum prehensile, Heteropternis thoracica, Pseudothericles jallae, Enallagma cyathigerum, Pseudagrion hageni, Lestinogomphus angustus, Rhyothemis semihyalina and Orthetrum brachiale.

- Bilateralia                                                       

- Eumetazoa                                                   

- Animalia                                                          

- Eukaryota                                                           

And that is all for now, folks!