Leptodactylidae

(vertebrate zoology) A large family of frogs in the suborder Procoela found principally in the American tropics and Australia.

(Leptodactylidae)

Class: Amphibia

Order: Anura

Family: Leptodactylidae

Thumbnail description
Small to large terrestrial and aquatic frogs with arciferal pectoral girdles, usually with teeth on the upper jaw, and no intercalary elements between the penultimate and terminal phalanges of digits

Size
0.4–10 in (10–250 mm)

Number of genera, species
45 genera; 1,124 species

Habitat
Tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, semiarid grasslands, montane forests, and grassland above tree line

Conservation status
Critically Endangered: 5 species; Endangered: 2 species; Vulnerable: 13 species; Data Deficient: 18 species

Distribution
Leptodactylids occur throughout South America, the West Indies, Central America, and Mexico and also range into the extreme southern United States

Evolution and systematics

Fossils of the subfamily Telmatobiinae are known from Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene deposits in Brazil and Argentina. Ceratophryine fossils are known from the Miocene and Pliocene of Argentina, and early Tertiary fossils of Eleutherodactylus are known from the West Indies.

Formerly, Leptodactylidae included the South African Heleophryne, now placed in its own family (Heleophrynidae), and two subfamilies in Australia, now recognized as Limnodynastidae and Myobatrachidae; Limnodynastidae also included Cyclorana, now recognized as a pelodryadine hylid. Most of the features of leptodactylids are primitive for neobatrachians. There is no compelling evidence that the family is monophyletic, and it probably is paraphyletic with respect to several other neotropical families of frogs.

Classification within Leptodactylidae has not been stable; herein seven subfamilies are recognized. Of these, Cycloramphinae, Eleutherodactylinae, and Odontophryinae commonly have been recognized as tribes within Telmatobiinae.

Resources

Cei, José M. Batracios de Chile. Santiago: Ediciones se la Universidad de Chile, 1962.

Joglar, Rafael L. Los Coquíes de Puerto Rico. San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998.

Ryan, Michael J. The Túngara Frog. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.

Cei, José M. "The Amphibians of Argentina." Monitore Zoologico Italiano Monografia 2 (1980): 1–609.

Heyer, W. Ronald. "A Preliminary Analysis of the Intergeneric Relationships of the Frog Family Leptodactylidae." Smithsonian Contributions from Zoolology 31 (1975): 1–55.

Heyer, W. Ronald, A. Stanley Rand, Carlos A. G. da Cruz, Oswaldo L. Peixoto, and Craig E. Nelson. "Frogs of Boracéia." Arquivos de Zoología Univ. São Paulo 31 (1990): 231–410.

Lynch, John D. "Evolutionary Relationships, Osteology, and Zoogeography of the Frog Family Leptodactylidae." Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 53 (1971): 1–238.

Lynch, John D. "A Re-assessment of the Telmatobiine Leptodactylid Frogs of Patagonia." Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, no. 72 (1978): 1–57.

Lynch, John D., and William E. Duellman. "Frogs of the Genus Eleutherodactylus (Leptodactylidae) in Western Ecuador: Systematics, Ecology, and Biogeography." Natural History Museum, Universoity of Kansas Special Publication 23 (1997): 1–236.

[Article by: William E. Duellman, PhD]

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: New World frogs; in some classifications essentially coextensive with the family Bufonidae
  Synonym: family Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae Fossil range: 65–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Paleocene – Recent[1]
Eleutherodactylus guttilatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Subclass:	Lissamphibia
Order:	Anura
Suborder:	Neobatrachia
Superfamily:	Hyloidea
Family:	Leptodactylidae Werner, 1896
Subfamilies
Ceratophryinae Cycloramphinae Eleutherodactylinae Leptodactylinae Telmatobiinae
Distribution of Leptodactylidae (in black)

Leptodactylidae are a diverse Family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic.^[2] There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species. In total, there are approximately 1100 leptodactylid species, most of which are widely distributed throughout Central and South America. The family is often considered paraphyletic and has no morphological synapomorphies.^[3] The family includes terrestrial, burrowing, aquatic, and arboreal members, inhabiting a wide range of different habitats.^[1]

Several of the genera within the Leptodactylidae lay their eggs in foam nests. These can be in crevices, on the surface of water, or on forest floors. These foam nests are some of the most varied among frogs. When eggs hatch in nests on the forest floor, the tadpoles remain within the nest, without eating, until metamorphosis. In the genus Eleutherodactylus, the eggs undergo direct development and hatch directly into miniature frogs, with no free-living tadpole stage.^[1]

The Leptodactylids are well represented in the fossil record, and one specimen from the genus Eleutherodactylus was wholly preserved in amber 37 million years ago.^[1]

Classification

Family LEPTODACTYLIDAE

• Subfamily Ceratophryinae - Horned Frogs
• Subfamily Cycloramphinae
• Subfamily Eleutherodactylinae - Robber Frogs
• Subfamily Leptodactylinae
• Subfamily Telmatobiinae - Water Frogs

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G.. ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 0-12-178560-2. 
2. ^ Heinicke, M.P., W.E. Duellman & S.B. Hedges (2007). "Major Caribbean and Central American frog faunas originated by ancient oceanic dispersal". Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 104 (24): 10092–7. doi:10.1073/pnas.0611051104. PMID 17548823. 
3. ^ "AmphibiaWeb: Information on Amphibian Biology and Conservation". University of California, Berkeley, CA. http://amphibiaweb.org/lists/Leptodactylidae.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-17. 

External links

• Leptodactylidae, from the Tree of Life Web Project
• Leptodactylidae taxonomy, from the NCBI taxonomy browser
• Leptodacylidae classification, from Animal Diversity Web
• Leptodactylid description, from AmphibiaWeb

v • d • e Extant anuran families by suborder Kingdom Animalia · Phylum Chordata · Subphylum Craniata · Superclass Tetrapoda · Class Amphibia Archaeobatrachia Ascaphidae · Bombinatoridae · Discoglossidae · Leiopelmatidae Mesobatrachia Megophryidae · Pelobatidae · Pelodytidae · Pipidae · Scaphiopodidae · Rhinophrynidae Neobatrachia Amphignathodontidae · Aromobatidae · Arthroleptidae · Brachycephalidae · Bufonidae · Centrolenidae · Dendrobatidae · Heleophrynidae · Hemisotidae · Hylidae · Hyperoliidae · Leptodactylidae · Mantellidae · Microhylidae · Myobatrachidae · Petropedetidae · Ranidae · Rhacophoridae · Rhinodermatidae · Sooglossidae

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