Myobatrachidae

Myobatrachidae
Temporal range: 25–0 Ma

Late Oligocene – Recent[1]

The common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Suborder: Neobatrachia
Family: Myobatrachidae
Schlegel, 1850
Subfamilies
  • See text
Distribution of Myobatrachidae (in black)

The Myobatrachidae (commonly known as the Australian ground frogs) are a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long, to the second-largest frog in Australia, the giant barred frog (Mixophyes iteratus), at 12 cm (4.7 in) in length. The entire family is either terrestrial or aquatic frogs, with no arboreal species.

Characteristics

The Myobatrachidae family contains forms of parental care unique in the animal kingdom. The two species of gastric-brooding frog (genus: Rheobatrachus), are found in this family. The females of these species swallow their young, where they develop until metamorphosis. The pouched frog (Assa darlingtoni) has pouches on the sides of its body. The male will guard the eggs until hatching, and assist the tadpoles into its side, where they stay until metamorphosis.[1] Another form of parental care, although not unique, is found in many species of the genus Limnodynastes, where the male buries himself near an egg mass, and protects the eggs.

While many species are adapted to burrowing, helping them survive in semiarid or seasonally arid environments, the turtle frog and sandhill frog go so far as to lay their eggs directly into moist sand several feet below the surface, rather than into water. These species lack tadpoles, with the eggs hatching directly into miniature frogs.[1]

These frogs lack adhesive toe discs found in the tree frogs. The family is broken into subfamilies based mainly upon their egg-laying habits. Those of the subfamily Limnodynastinae lay foam nests. The female creates foam by agitating a chemical on her skin with her hands. The foam may float on top of water, or be on land. The subfamily Rheobatrachinae contains the two species of gastric-brooding frogs, and the rest are within the subfamily Myobatrachinae.

Taxonomy

The myobatrachids are split into three subfamilies: Myobatrachinae, Limnodynastinae, and Rheobatrachinae. Although most sources class the three groups as subfamilies, some taxonomists recognise them as individual families.

SubfamiliaSpeciesCommon nameBinomial name
Limnodynastinae[2]1Tusked frogAdelotus Ogilby, 1907
6Giant burrowing frogsHeleioporus Gray, 1841
4Cannibal frogs Lechriodus Boulenger, 1882
11Australian swamp frogsLimnodynastes Fitzinger, 1843
10Stubby frogs Neobatrachus Peters, 1863
4Australian spadefoot toadsNotaden Günther, 1873
2Burrowing frogsOpisthodon Steindachner, 1867
6Baw Baw frogsPhiloria Spencer, 1901
Myobatrachinae[3]1Australian dumpy frogsArenophryne Tyler, 1976
1Pouched frogsAssa Tyler, 1972
15Australian froglets Crinia Tschudi, 1838
7Ground froglets Geocrinia Blake, 1973
1Nicholls' toadlets Metacrinia Parker, 1940
8Barred frogs Mixophyes Günther, 1864
1Turtle frogsMyobatrachus Schlegel In Gray, 1850
1Haswell's frogsParacrinia Heyer & Liem, 1976
13Crowned toadletPseudophryne Fitzinger, 1843
1Sunset frogSpicospina Roberts et al., 1997
6Australian torrent frogs Taudactylus Straughan & Lee, 1966
25Australian toadlets Uperoleia Gray, 1841
Rheobatrachinae[4]2Gastric-brooding frogsRheobatrachus Liem, 1973

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G., ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
  2. Considered a family - Limnodynastidae by some authors.
  3. Considered a family - Myobatrachidae by some authors.
  4. Combined with the Myobatrachidae by some authors.

References

Wikispecies has information related to: Myobatrachidae
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Myobatrachidae.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, November 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.