Cyclorana
| Cyclorana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Water-holding frog (Cyclorana platycephala) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Hylidae |
| Genus: | Cyclorana |
| Species | |
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13 species; see table | |
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| The range of Cyclorana (in black) | |
Cyclorana is a genus of frogs in the family Hylidae (tree frogs), whose members are found in most of Australia. It was formerly considered a separate genus, but reclassified following a major revision by Frost et al. in 2006.[1] Although classified as tree frogs, this genus is entirely terrestrial and lacks toe pads which their arboreal relatives use for climbing. They are classified as tree frogs because of their similarity with the other members of the genus Litoria in terms of skeletal structure and physical resemblance of the tadpoles.
This genus inhabits some of the most arid zones of Australia. Some species burrow underground and remain dormant for more than five years to survive drought conditions. They can store large amounts of water in their bladder, and form a "cocoon" around themselves to reduce loss of water. This is why they are often called "water-holding frogs". They only return to the surface to breed and eat, and normally only after heavy summer rains. Eggs are normally laid in temporary water, and tadpoles develop quickly to metamorphose before the water completely evaporates.
Species
| Binomial name and author | Common name |
|---|---|
| Cyclorana alboguttata (Günther, 1867) | Striped burrowing frog |
| Cyclorana australis (Gray, 1842) | Giant frog |
| Cyclorana brevipes (Peters, 1871) | Short-footed frog |
| Cyclorana cryptotis (Tyler & Martin, 1977) | Hidden-ear frog |
| Cyclorana cultripes (Parker, 1940) | Knife-footed frog |
| Cyclorana longipes (Tyler & Martin, 1977) | Long-footed frog |
| Cyclorana maculosa (Tyler & Martin, 1977) | Daly Waters frog |
| Cyclorana maini (Tyler & Martin, 1977) | Main's frog |
| Cyclorana manya (Van Beurden & McDonald, 1980) | Small frog |
| Cyclorana novaehollandiae (Steindachner, 1867) | New Holland frog |
| Cyclorana platycephala (Günther, 1873) | Water-holding frog |
| Cyclorana vagitus Tyler, Davies & Martin, 1981 | Wailing frog |
| Cyclorana verrucosa (Tyler & Martin, 1977) | Rough frog |
References
- ↑ Darrel R. Frost, Taran Grant, Julia´ N Faivovich, Raoul H. Bain, Alexander Haas, Ce´ Lio F.B. Haddad, Rafael O. De Sa´ , Alan Channing, Mark Wilkinson, Stephen C. Donnellan, Christopher J. Raxworthy, Jonathan A. Campbell, Boris L. Blotto, Paul Moler, Robert C. Drewes, Ronald A. Nussbaum, John D. Lynch, David M. Green, And Ward C. Wheeler, 2006, The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 297: 362
External links
- Frost, Darrel R. 2007. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.1 (10 October 2007). Litoria. Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. (Accessed: May 10, 2008).
- AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. 2008. Berkeley, California: Cyclorana. AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: May 10, 2008).
- eol - Encyclopedia of Life taxon Cyclorana at http://www.eol.org.
- ITIS - Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database Taxon Cyclorana at http://www.itis.gov/index.html. (Accessed: May 10, 2008).
- GBIF - Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxon Cyclorana at http://data.gbif.org/welcome.htm
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Wikispecies has information related to: Litoria |