Alytidae

Discoglossidae Temporal range: Late Jurassic to Recent[1] PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Alytes obstetricans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Alytidae Fitzinger, 1843
Genera
Genus Alytes Genus Discoglossus Genus Latonia
Distribution of Discoglossidae (in black)
Synonyms
Discoglossidae Günther, 1859

The Alytidae are a family of primitive frogs.^[2][3][4][5] Their common name is painted frogs^[2] or midwife toads.^[4] Most are endemic to Europe, but there are also three species in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct in Israel.

This family is also known as Discoglossidae, but the older name Alytidae has priority and is now recognized by major reference works.^[2][3][4][5] However, some researchers suggest that Alytes and Discoglossus are different enough to be treated as separate families, implying resurrection of Discoglossidae.^[2]

Genera and species

The family contains three extant genera, Alytes, Discoglossus, and Latonia. The first is somewhat toad-like and can often be found on land. The second is smoother and more frog-like, preferring the water.^[6] The third genus was until recently considered extinct, and is represented by the recently rediscovered Hula painted frog. All of the species have pond-dwelling tadpoles.

The genera Bombina and Barbourula also used to be under this family, but have now been moved to the Bombinatoridae.^[7]

Family Alytidae

• Genus Alytes
  • Alytes cisternasii - Iberian midwife toad
  • Alytes dickhilleni - southern midwife toad
  • Alytes maurus - Moroccan midwife Toad
  • Alytes muletensis - Majorcan midwife toad
  • Alytes obstetricans - common midwife toad
• Genus Discoglossus
  • Discoglossus galganoi - West Iberian painted frog
  • Discoglossus jeanneae - Spanish painted frog
  • Discoglossus montalentii - Corsican painted frog
  • Discoglossus pictus - common painted frog
  • Discoglossus sardus - Tyrrhenian painted frog
  • Discoglossus scovazzi - Moroccan painted frog
• Genus Latonia
  • Latonia nigriventer - Hula painted frog
• Genus †Enneabatrachus (prehistoric)^[1]
  • †Enneabatrachus hechti^[1]

• 

  Iberian midwife toad (Alytes cisternasii)

• 

  Iberian or Portuguese painted frog (Discoglossus galganoi)

• 

  Fossil discoglossid from Miocene (†Latonia seyfriedi)

References

1. Foster, J. (2007). "Enneabatrachus hechti" Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. p. 137.
2. Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Alytidae Fitzinger, 1843". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
3. "Alytidae Fitzinger, 1843". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
4. "Alytidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
5. Blackburn, D.C.; Wake, D.B. (2011). "Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa 3148: 39–55.
6. Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G., ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
7. Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Bombinatoridae Gray, 1825". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 April 2014.

• San Mauro, Diego; Garcia-Paris, Mario; Zardoya, Rafael (December 2004). "Phylogenetic relationships of discoglossid frogs (Amphibia:Anura:Discoglossidae) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear genes". Gene 343 (2): 357–366. doi:10.1016/j.gene.2004.10.001. PMID 15588590.
• San Mauro, Diego; Vences, Miguel; Alcobendas, Marina; Zardoya, Rafael; Meyer, Axel (May 2005). "Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea" (– ^{Scholar search}). American Naturalist 165 (5): 590–599. doi:10.1086/429523. PMID 15795855.