Binomina
Biological species are named using a 'binomial' system consisting of the genus followed by the species name, e.g. the Afram tree has the botanical name Terminali superba, which is its 'binomen'. It is quite common for a species to be named after a person or a place, and in Ghana, there are some notable examples of the latter.
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Ahanta Spurfowl - Pternistis ahantensis
Ahanta (West Municipal) is a coastal district in the Western Region of Ghana extending roughly 100km to the west and east of Dixcove. Both the indigenous people and their language are also known by this name.
The Ahanta Francolin or Ahanta Spurfowl (Pternistis ahantensis) is a species of bird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It was described in 1854 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck from specimens collected in the Dutch Gold Coast, now southern Ghana, and given the binomial name Francolinus ahantensis. The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.
Sources:
Wikipedia: Ahanta Spurfowl
Xeno-Canto XC351750: Hans Matheve: Ahanta Spurfowl, Ankasa, WR
Ahanta Spurfowl (Bijdragen tot de dierkunde,1848)
Atewa Dotted Border Butterfly - Mylothris atewa
The Atewa Range Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region was established as a national forest reserve in 1926 and has since been designated as a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area and an Important Bird Area. The Atewa mountain range extends from about 25km SSW of Kibi to about 25km NNE and has long been recognised as a nationally important reserve because it contains the headwaters of the major rivers Ayensu, Densu and Birim.
Kwadwo Sarfo Marfo stated in a Rufford Report: "The Atewa Dotted Border Butterfly (Mylothris atewa) is an endemic butterfly to Ghana and described from Atewa, an upland evergreen forest. Between 1950 and 1982, a Roman Catholic priest collected over 800 of the 930 currently known specimen from Ghana. Researchers are certain Mylothris atewa occurs only at Atewa but possible smaller population could be at Tano-Offin Forest Reserve (hereafter referred as Tano-Offin), an upland evergreen forest like Atewa. ... These forests are under serious threat from encroachment, illegal mining and logging. The aim of this project is therefore to monitor their responses to these ongoing threats at Atewa."
Sources:
Rapid Assessment Program, Bulletin of Biological Assessment 47, "A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Eastern Ghana"
Rufford Foundation Report, 17 Nov 2017: Conservation of the Atewa Dotted Border Butterfly (Mylothris atewa) in Ghana
Atewa Slippery Frog - Conraua sagyimase - kwaeɛ mu nsutene apɔnkyerɛne
Sagyimase is a village in Abuakwa South Municipal District, Eastern Region and is noted for its support for the conservation of the endangered Atewa Slippery Frog whose description was reported in July 2021.
A Rocha: "The Atewa Forest campaign was boosted last month by the publication of a formal description of a new species of frog, known only from Atewa. Discovered in the forest in 2006, for some time it was believed to be the Togo Slippery Frog Conraua derooi. However, subsequent studies have concluded that it is a species in its own right. It has been given the English name Atewa Slippery Frog and the scientific name Conraua sagyimase, which honours the local Sagyimase community that has helped its conservation. The Akan common name for the new species is 'kwaeɛ mu nsutene apɔnkyerɛne', meaning the ‘frog of the forest streams’."
Sources:
Zootaxa: A new critically endangered slippery frog from the Atewa Range, central Ghana
A Rocha International: New species to science discovered in Atewa
Synchronicity Earth: The home of a frog orchestra
Bobiri Reed Frog - Hyperolius bobirensis
"The Bobiri Forest Reserve contains semi-deciduous forest. It is an experimental forest managed by the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana with areas of forest under different management treatments. The reserve was created in 1939 and measures just over 50 square kilometres." (GEM)
According to AmphibiaWeb, the first identification of the Bobiri Reed Frog was made in 1967 by Arne Schiøtz: "A forest form, found around stagnant overgrown water-holes in the dense forest. Only known from the type locality (Bobiri Forest Reserve) in central Ghana where it is abundant. The call is a soft, quiet click followed by an even softer buzzing." In 2021 David Amaning Kwarteng stated in a Rufford Report: "The Bobiri reed frog was first described from the Bobiri Forest Reserve in Ghana. However, the species have not been seen in the Bobiri forest for more than a decade. Recent herpetological surveys in the forest have also failed to detect the species. Fortunately, a viable population has been established in Atewa Forest."
Sources:
GEM: Global Ecosystems Monitoring - Bobiri
AmphibiaWeb 2008: Hyperolius bobirensis
Rufford Foundation Report, 9 Dec 2021: Empowering Local Communities ... in Ghana
Jungle Dragon: Hyperolius bobiri splayed out on a leaf
Bum-eyed Spider - Araneus legonensis - (now Bijoaraneus legonensis)
Legon is a suburb of Accra in Ayawaso West Municipal District, and is the location of the main campus of the University of Ghana. Founded in 1948 as 'the University College of the Gold Coast', it was renamed as the 'University College of Ghana' after Ghana gained independence in 1957, and then as the 'University of Ghana' in 1961, when it gained full university status. But to locals it is known simply as 'Legon'.
"During 1971-1973 the ecology of several species of araneid spiders was studied at Legon, Ghana, when a species of Araneus which is evidently new, was found. It occurred at the University of Ghana, Legon .. . The surrounding area is coastal savanna .. , but this species was found on the campus of the university, where the vegetation is park-like, with cut grass and pruned shrubs. However a small part was allowed to grow unattended for two years, during which time a high population of Araneus legonensis built up, especially on one Bougainvillea bush. Elsewhere on the campus the spider was rare. .. The spider was not found elsewhere in Ghana, though as it is small it is probably easily overlooked." (Manfred Grasshoff & Janet Edmunds, Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society)
Sources:
JungleDragon: Bum-eyed Spider (Araneus legonensis)
British Arachnological Society: Araneus legonensis ... from Ghana West Africa
University of Ghana: Establishment of The University
Freshwater Diatoms
Diatoms are single-celled microscopic organisms that belong to several genera of algae. Uniquely their cell walls are made of silica by a process which is not yet understood. To quote diatoms.org, "Diatoms are algae that live in houses made of glass ". They are important because they produce 20-30% of the air we breathe, and provide energy-rich molecules that are food for the entire food web, from zooplankton to whales.
In 1961, the Danish botanist Niels Foged (1906-1988) spent about 5 weeks touring Ghana, collecting and analysing 150 freshwater samples from 67 different localities. His paper (1966) contains 145 new species, 120 of which were given specific epithets based on Ghanaian place names. Seven of these in the Navicula genus can be seen in Plate XI, namely mansiensis (River Mansi), abonuensis (Abonu), navrongensis (Navrongo), damongensis (Damongo), fawumangensis (Fawoman), nsutaensis (Nsuta), & abelioensis (Abelio).
Sources:
diatoms.org: What are Diatoms?
Niels Foged: Freshwater diatoms from Ghana. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Biologiske Shrifter 15, No.1 (1966)
AlgaeBase: Niels Foged (1966), Freshwater Diatoms from Ghana
Freshwater Diatoms from Ghana: Plate XI
(click/touch to enlarge)
Gambaga Flycatcher - Muscicapa gambagae (formerly Alseonax gambagae)
Gambaga is the capital town of the East Mamprusi Municipal District in the North East Region, and lies on a scarp of the same name.
Captain Boyd Alexander was an English officer in the British Army, as well as an explorer and ornithologist. He was posted to the Gold Coast Colony in 1900. Writing in the journal Ibis, he reported:
"On the morning of June 1st, 1900, I landed at Cape Coast, and, as a Haussa officer, found myself attached to the Kumassi Relief-Column. ... In November 1900, I left Kumassi with a column of Haussas for Gambaga, the headquarters of the Northern Territories — a three weeks' trek. ... Near Gambaga many important forms of bird-life... were obtained...
158. Alseonax GAMBAGÆ Alexander. " (Alexander 1902)
Sources:
Wikipedia: Boyd Alexander
Boyd Alexander, The Ibis (archive.org), Vol.II, 1902, EIGHTH SERIES, pp.278-329)
eBird: Gambaga Flycatcher
Xeno-Canto XC719315: Peter Boesman: Gambaga Flycatcher, Mole National Park
Krokosua (or Giant) Squeaker Frog - Arthroleptis krokosua
Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve "covers 482 km² and was established in 1935. It lies close to the east of the Bia River, to the west of Bia National Park and Resource Reserve. .. Although much of the reserve has been severely degraded by logging and cultivation, the 142 km² GSBA is the least damaged part of the reserve and supports good forest on its central ridge." (Oates)
"We describe a new giant species of Arthroleptis ... from the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve, south-western Ghana .. . It differs from all known West African Arthroleptis by its large size, its peculiar coloration and ... an extremely broad head. ... The name was chosen to highlight the extraordinary importance of the location in the context of the conservation of Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBA) in the Western Region, Ghana. ... Holotype .. collected by A.C. Agyei and R. Ernst on 8 November 2003 on a steep hill, SE of village of Mmem .. 6°35.970’ N, 2°50.705’ W .." (Ernst, Agyei & Rödel, 2008)
"A team of scientists has found the critically endangered frog – the Krokosua Squeaker Frog (Arthroleptis krokosua) – at Ghana’s Sui River Forest Reserve in the Western Region, after four years of intensive search. … The Giant Squeaker Frog was first identified in 2002 from single specimen that research scientists found at the Krokosua Hills in Western Ghana. Despite active searching to find more frogs it was not until 2009 that another Krokosua Frog was found, when 14 individual frogs, its highest abundance ever, were recorded at the Sui River Forest Reserve." (Kofi Adu Domfeh, 2013)
Sources:
John F. Oates: Primate Conservation in the Forests of Western Ghana: Field Survey Results, 2005-2006
Ernst, Agyei, Rödel (2008): A new giant species of Arthroleptis ... from the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve
Kofi Adu Domfeh, ModernGhana (22 Oct 2013 ): One of world’s rarest frogs found in Ghana
Wikipedia: Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve
Rufford Foundation: Scaling up Activities for the Protection of Ghana’s Iconic Giant Squeaker Frog
Scientific American: Giant Squeaker Frog Gets Ready for Cries of Joy
Pra Tilapia* - Tilapia pra
The River Pra rises in the Kwahu Plateau near Mpraeso and flows for about 240km roughly south-west to reach the Gulf of Guinea about 21km NE of Takoradi. The River Anum is one of its main tributaries, meeting the Pra about one third of its journey from its source.
In July 2010, Andreas Dunz & Ulrich Schliewen of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology reported the discovery of a new species of Tilapia in Zootaxa: "A new species of the genus Tilapia Smith, 1840 is described from the Pra River drainage in Ghana. ... T. pra sp. nov. differs from T. busumana in ground coloration. T. pra sp. nov. possesses a light brown to greyish dorsum and a beige to yellow ventral area vs. a bluish-purple to blackish dorsum and darker on underside of head and body of T. busumana." The locality is given by Zoobank as: Ashanti Region, Anum River, tributary to Pra, at Anumso village (6° 25' 44''N, 1° 17' 59'' W).
* No common name is given.
Sources:
Zootaxa: Vol. 2548 No. 1: 26 Jul. 2010
Zoobank: Tilapia pra Dunz & Schliewen, 2010
Zenodo: Description of a new species of Tilapia
