Buergeria

Buergeria
Buergeria japonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Subfamily: Buergeriinae
Genus: Buergeria
Tschudi, 1838
Type species
Hyla bürgeri Temminck and Schlegel, 1838
Diversity
4 species (see text)

Buergeria is a genus of frogs in the Rhacophoridae family, and the sole genus of subfamily Buergeriinae. They are the sister taxon for all the other rhacophorids (subfamily Rhacophorinae). This position is firmly supported by the available evidence.[1][2]

Buergeria are sometimes known as Buerger's frogs. There are four species found in an area that stretches from Hainan (China) and Taiwan through the Ryukyu Islands to Honshu (Japan).[3]

Description

Buergeria are medium-sized to large frogs (snout-vent length 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in)) that resemble in their body form Rana (unlike other rhacophorids). Their skin is smooth and they have no dorsal ornamentations. Their feet are fully webbed whereas their fingers are only up to half-webbed.[2] They produce many eggs that are deposited in water and develop through a tadpole stage.[4]

Species

There are four recognized species in the genus Buergeria:[3]

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed one of the four species as being vulnerable (Buergeria oxycephala), while the remaining ones are considered being of least concern.[5]

References

  1. Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Buergeriinae Channing, 1989". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 Li, Jiatang; Dingqi Rao; Robert W. Murphy; Yaping Zhang (2011). "The systematic status of rhacophorid frogs" (PDF). Asian Herpetological Research 2: 1–11. doi:10.3724/SP.J.1245.2011.00001.
  3. 1 2 Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Buergeria Tschudi, 1838". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  4. Grosjean, S.; Delorme, M.; Dubois, A.; Ohler, A. (2008). "Evolution of reproduction in the Rhacophoridae (Amphibia, Anura)". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 46 (2): 169. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2007.00451.x.
  5. IUCN (2013). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>". Retrieved 23 November 2013.
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