Semnodactylus wealii
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Weale's running frog (Semnodactylus wealii), also known as Weale's frog, rattling frog, and many other commons names, is a species of frog in the family Hyperoliidae. It is monotypic within the genus Semnodactylus. It is found in southern and eastern South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini.
The specific name wealii honours James Philip Mansel Weale, an English amateur entomologist who farmed in Bedford, Eastern Cape, and sent specimens to England. Semnodactylus wealii grow to 44 mm (1.7 in) in snout–vent length. The limbs are thin and long. The dorsum is yellowish-brownto grey and has three dark longitudinal bands, each with a pale center. The flanks have a dark stripe or a series of blotches. The concealed parts of the limbs are yellow to orange. The throat in breeding males is black.
The male advertisement call is a low-pitched creak, resembling the sound of a cork being removed from a bottle. Weale's running frog is a common frog mostly occurring in grassland habitats at elevations below 1,700 m (5,600 ft); in Western Cape it is also found in fynbos heath. It breeds in all sort of ponds (both permanent and temporary, and... Wikipedia →
Recording0:07
South Africa · 2005
© probreviceps · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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South Africa · 2023
© Oliver Angus · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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South Africa · 2018
© Alex Rebelo · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Weale's Running Frog sighting in Garden Route National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 12 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Weale's Running Frog in Garden Route National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–June, August and October–January, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Weale's Running Frog sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Garden Route National Park, in our data
Garden Route National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Weale's Running Frog sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Weale's Running Frog is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Garden Route National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
