Geocrinia

Geocrinia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Myobatrachidae
Genus: Geocrinia
Blake, 1973
Species

See text.

Distribution of Geocrinia.

Geocrinia is a genus of frogs in the family Myobatrachidae. These frogs are endemic to Australia. All the species in this genus were originally referred to as Crinia. Further studies showed there was some considerable differences between this group of frogs and Crinia. These differences included; a slightly sturdier body, smoother skin on the ventral surface and the greatest difference, the reproductive nature, laying the eggs outside of water. Some species of Geocrinia go through the tadpole stage entirely in the egg capsule while others develop initially in the egg then hatch when sufficient rain falls for them to complete their larval development in water. Five of the seven species live in Western Australia while the other two species are confined to south-eastern Australia.

Geocrinia alba is considered critically endangered, due to habitat loss from expansion of the wine industry in Western Australia.

Species

Common nameBinomial name
White-bellied FrogGeocrinia alba (Wardell-Johnson & Roberts, 1989)
Smooth FrogGeocrinia laevis (Günther, 1864)
Lea’s FrogGeocrinia leai (Fletcher, 1898)
Walpole’s FrogGeocrinia lutea (Main, 1963)
Karri FrogGeocrinia rosea (Harrison, 1927)
Eastern Smooth FrogGeocrinia victoriana (Boulenger, 1888)
Orange-bellied FrogGeocrinia vitellina (Wardell-Johnson & Roberts, 1989)

References

    • Cogger, Harold G (1983) [1979]. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia (Rev. ed.). Reed. p. 43. ISBN 0-589-50356-1. 
    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 02, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.