List of Anuran families
Encyclopedia
This list of Anuran families shows all extant families
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of Anura. Anura is an order of animals in the class Amphibia that includes frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s and toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
s. There are more than 5,000 species currently described in the order. The living Anurans are typically divided into three suborders: Archaeobatrachia
Archaeobatrachia
Archaeobatrachia is a suborder of Anura containing various primitive frogs and toads. As the name literally suggests, these are the most primitive frogs. Many of the species show certain physiological characteristics which are not present in other frogs and toads, thus giving rise to this group...
, Mesobatrachia
Mesobatrachia
Mesobatrachia is the second largest of the Anura suborders of amphibians. It contains 6 families, 20 genera and 168 species. This is, of course, not matched to the 5,047 species noted in the Neobatrachia suborder...
and Neobatrachia
Neobatrachia
Neobatrachia are a suborder of the Anura, the order of frogs and toads. This suborder is the most advanced and apomorphic of the three anuran orders alive today; hence its name, which literally means "new frogs"...
. This classification is based on such morphological features as the number of vertebrae, the structure of the pectoral girdle, and the morphology of tadpoles.
Taxonomy
The Archaeobatrachians are the most primitive of frogs. These frogs have morphological characteristics which are found mostly in extinct frogs, and are absent in most of the modern frog species. Most of these characteristics are not common between all the families of Archaeobatrachians, or are not absent from all the modern species of frog. However all Archarobatrachians have free vertebrae, whereas all other species of frog have their ribs fused to their vertebrae.The Neobatrachians comprise the most modern species of frog. Most of these frogs have morphological features which are more complex than those of the Mesobatrachians and Archaeobatrachians. The Neobatrachians all have a palatine bone
Palatine bone
The palatine bone is a bone in many species of the animal kingdom, commonly termed the palatum .-Human anatomy:...
, which is a bone which braces the upper jaw to the neurocranium. This is absent in all Archaeobatrachians and some Mesobatrachians. The third distal carpus
Carpus
In tetrapods, the carpus is the sole cluster of bones in the wrist between the radius and ulna and the metacarpus. The bones of the carpus do not belong to individual fingers , whereas those of the metacarpus do. The corresponding part of the foot is the tarsus...
is fused with the remaining carpal bones. The adductor longus muscle is present in the Neobatrachians, but absent in the Archaeobatrachians and some Mesobatrachians. It is believed to have differentiated from pectineus muscle
Pectineus muscle
The pectineus muscle is a flat, quadrangular muscle, situated at the anterior part of the upper and medial aspect of the thigh....
, and this differentiation has not occurred in the primitive frogs.
The Mesobatrachians are considered the evolutionary link between the Archaeobatrachians and the Neobatrachians. The families within the Mesobatrachian suborder generally contain morphological features typical of both the other suborders. For example, the palatine bone is absent in all Archaeobatrachians, and present in all Neobatrachians. However, within the Mesobatrachians families, it can be dependent on the species as to whether the palatine bone is present.
Due to the many morphological features which separate the frogs, there are many different systems for the classification of the Anuran suborders. These different classification systems usually split the Mesobatrachian suborder.
Families
| Archaeobatrachia Archaeobatrachia Archaeobatrachia is a suborder of Anura containing various primitive frogs and toads. As the name literally suggests, these are the most primitive frogs. Many of the species show certain physiological characteristics which are not present in other frogs and toads, thus giving rise to this group... - 4 families, 6 genera, 27 species |
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| Family | Genera | Common Names | Example Species | |Example Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascaphidae Fejérváry, 1923 |
1 | Tailed frogs | Tailed Frog Tailed frog The tailed frogs are two species of frogs. The species are part of the genus, Ascaphus is the only taxon in the family Ascaphidae . The "tail" in the name is actually an extension of the male cloaca. The tail is one of two distinctive anatomical features adapting the species to life in fast-flowing... (Ascaphus truei) |
 |
| Bombinatoridae Bombinatoridae Bombinatoridae are often referred to as Fire-bellied toads because of their brightly colored ventral sides, which show that they are highly toxic to humans. This family includes two genera, Barbourula and Bombina, both of which have flattened bodies.Bombina are warty, aquatic toads about in... Gray John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray .... , 1825 |
2 | Fire-belly toads | European Fire-bellied Toad European Fire-bellied Toad The European Fire-bellied Toad Bombina bombina is a fire-bellied toad native to mainland Europe. These toads are slightly toxic sometimes to humans... (Bombina bombina) |
.jpg) |
| Discoglossidae Discoglossidae Discoglossidae is a family of primitive frogs, with the common name Disc-Tongued Frogs. Most are endemic to Europe, but there are also three species in North-West Africa, and an extinct species formerly occurred in Israel.... Günther Albert C. L. G. Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist.... , 1858 |
2 | Painted frogs or Disc-Tongued frogs | Iberian or Portuguese Painted Frog (Discoglossus galganoi) |  |
| Leiopelmatidae Leiopelmatidae Leiopelmatidae, or New Zealand and North American primitive frogs, is a family belonging to the suborder Archaeobatrachia. Their relatively primitive form indicates that they have an ancient lineage... Mivart George Jackson Mivart St. George Jackson Mivart PhD M.D. FRS was an English biologist. He is famous for starting as an ardent believer in natural selection who later became one of its fiercest critics. Trying to reconcile Darwin's theory of evolution with the beliefs of the Catholic Church, he ended up being condemned... , 1869 |
1 | New Zealand primitive frogs | Hochstetters frog (Leiopelma hochstetteri) |  |
|-
|colspan="100%" align="center" |Mesobatrachia
Mesobatrachia
Mesobatrachia is the second largest of the Anura suborders of amphibians. It contains 6 families, 20 genera and 168 species. This is, of course, not matched to the 5,047 species noted in the Neobatrachia suborder...
- 6 families, 21 genera, 168 species
|-
!Family!!Genera!!Common Names!!Example Species!!Example Photo
|-
|Megophryidae
Megophryidae
Megophryidae are a large family of frogs native to the warm southeast of Asia, from the Himalaya foothills eastwards, south to Indonesia and the Greater Sunda Islands in Maritime Southeast Asia, and extending to the Philippines. As of mid-2008 it encompasses approximately 70-100 species of frog...
Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano was a French naturalist and ornithologist.-Biography:...
, 1850||11||Litter frogs or short-legged toads ||Long-nosed Horned Frog
Long-nosed Horned Frog
The Long-nosed Horned Frog or the Malayan Horned Frog is a species of frog restricted to the rainforest areas of southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo.-Physical description:...
(Megophrys nasuta)||
|Pelobatidae
Pelobatidae
The European spadefoot toads are a family of frogs, the Pelobatidae, with only one extant genus Pelobates, containing four species. They are native to Europe, the Mediterranean, northwestern Africa and western Asia....
Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano was a French naturalist and ornithologist.-Biography:...
, 1850||1||European spadefoot toads||Common Spadefoot
Common spadefoot
Pelobates fuscus is a species of toad in the family Pelobatidae, native to an area extending from Central Europe to Western Asia. It is commonly known as the Common Spadefoot, Garlic Toad, the Common Spadefoot Toad and the European Common Spadefoot.The common spadefoot grows to a length of...
(Pelobates fuscus)||
|-
|Pelodytidae
Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano was a French naturalist and ornithologist.-Biography:...
, 1850||1||Parsley frogs||Common Parsley Frog
Common Parsley Frog
The Common Parsley Frog is a very small and slender frog with long hindlegs, flat head and vertical pupils. Males reach only 3.5, females 4.5 centimetres. The upper side of the body is variable in colour, usually with irregular green patches on a light brown, grey or light olive background...
(Pelodytes punctatus)||
|Pipidae
Pipidae
The Pipidae are a family of primitive, tongueless frogs. The thirty species in the family Pipidae are found in tropical South America and sub-Saharan Africa ....
Gray
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....
, 1825||5||Tongueless frogs or clawed frogs||African Dwarf Frog
African dwarf frog
African dwarf frogs are small aquatic frogs native to parts of Africa, spreading from tropical to subtropical areas primarily in the Congo region.-Description:...
(Hymenochirus boettgeri)||
|Rhinophrynidae
Günther
Albert C. L. G. Günther
Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
, 1859||1||Mexican Burrowing Toad||Mexican Burrowing Toad
Mexican Burrowing Toad
The Mexican Burrowing Toad is the only species in the genus Rhinophrynus and the family Rhinophrynidae of order Anura. These frogs live from the southern Texas through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador to Nicaragua and Costa Rica...
(Rhinophrynus dorsalis)||
|Scaphiopodidae
Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1865 ||2||American spadefoot toads||Western Spadefoot Toad
Spea hammondii
The Western Spadefoot Toad is a relatively smooth-skinned species of spadefoot toad. Its eyes are pale gold with vertical pupils. It has a green or grey dorsum often with skin tubercles tipped in orange, and it is a whitish color on the ventrum. It has a wedge-shaped black spade on each hind foot...
(Spea hammondii)||
|colspan="100%" align="center" |Neobatrachia
Neobatrachia
Neobatrachia are a suborder of the Anura, the order of frogs and toads. This suborder is the most advanced and apomorphic of the three anuran orders alive today; hence its name, which literally means "new frogs"...
- 21 families, more than 5,000 species
|-
!Family!!Genera!!Common Names!!Example Species!!Example Photo
|-
|Allophrynidae
Goin, Goin, and Zug, 1978||1||Tukeit Hill Frog||Tukeit Hill Frog
Tukeit Hill Frog
The Tukeit Hill Frog is the only described species in the genus Allophryne and the only member of the subfamily Allophryninae, a clade recently placed under the family Centrolenidae. These frogs live in Guyana, Venezuela, Surinam, Brazil and Bolivia...
(Allophryne ruthveni)|| -
|-
|Amphignathodontidae
Amphignathodontidae
The marsupial frogs are a disputed family in the order Anura. Where it is treated as a separate family, it consists of two genera, Gastrotheca, and Flectonotus. These frogs are native to Neotropical America . Under other classifications, these are treated as part of family Hemiphractidae...
Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1882||2||Marsupial Frogs||Marsupial Frog
Gastrotheca
Gastrotheca is a genus of frogs found in Central and South America. Most species occur in the American Cordillera from southern Costa Rica to northwestern Argentina. This genus makes up the bulk of marsupial frog diversity; formerly it was placed in the "Leptodactylidae" assemblage.Marsupial frogs...
(Gastrotheca excubitor)||
|-
|Arthroleptidae
Arthroleptidae
Arthroleptidae is a family of frogs found in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are also known as squeakers because of their high-pitched call. They are small, less than in length, terrestrial frogs found mostly in leaf litter on the forest floor. They completely bypass any aquatic stage, and therefore do...
Mivart
George Jackson Mivart
St. George Jackson Mivart PhD M.D. FRS was an English biologist. He is famous for starting as an ardent believer in natural selection who later became one of its fiercest critics. Trying to reconcile Darwin's theory of evolution with the beliefs of the Catholic Church, he ended up being condemned...
, 1869||8||Screeching frogs or squeakers ||Tanzanian Screeching Frog (Arthroleptis tanneri)|| -
|-
|Brachycephalidae
Günther
Albert C. L. G. Günther
Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
, 1858 ||1||Saddleback toads||Brazilian Gold Frog
Brazilian Gold Frog
The Brazilian gold frog , also known as Izecksohn's toad, is the smallest frog in the Southern Hemisphere. It was previously called Psyllophryne didactyla....
(Brachycephalus didactylus)|| -
|-
|Bufonidae
Gray
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....
, 1825||35||True toads||Common Toad
Common Toad
The common toad or European toad is an amphibian widespread throughout Europe, with the exception of Iceland, Ireland and some Mediterranean islands...
(Bufo bufo)||
.jpg)
|Centrolenidae
Taylor
Edward Harrison Taylor
Edward Harrison Taylor was an American herpetologist from Kansas.He was born in Maysville, Missouri and studied at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, graduating with a B.A. in 1912. Subsequently, he went to the Philippines, where at first he held a teacher's post in a village in central...
, 1951||3||Glass frogs||Bare-hearted Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum)||
|Dendrobatidae
Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1865 ||9||Poison dart frogs||Yellow-banded Poison Dart
Yellow-banded Poison Dart
The Yellow-banded poison dart frog , Dendrobates leucomelas, is a poison dart frog from the Dendrobates genus of the Dendrobatidae family.-Distribution and habitat:...
(Dendrobates leucomelas)||
|-
|Heleophrynidae
Noble
Gladwyn Kingsley Noble
Gladwyn Kingsley Noble was an American zoologist.- Works :*"American Egret at Martha's Vineyard, Mass" The Auk Vol. 31 N. 1: 100...
, 1931||1||Ghost frogs||Natal Ghost Frog
Natal Ghost Frog
The Natal Ghost Frog is a species of frog in the Heleophrynidae family.It is found in Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland....
(Heleophryne natalensis)|| -
|-
|Hemisotidae
Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1867 ||1||Shovelnose frogs||Mottled Shovelnose Frogs (Hemisus marmoratus)|| -
|-
|Hylidae
Rafinesque, 1815||42||Tree frogs||White's Tree Frog
White's Tree Frog
The Australian Green Tree Frog, simply Green Tree Frog in Australia, White's Tree Frog, or Dumpy Tree Frog is a species of tree frog native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand and the United States. The species belongs to the genus Litoria...
(Litoria caerulea)||
|Hyperoliidae
Hyperoliidae
Hyperoliidae is a family of small to medium sized, brightly colored, frogs which contains more than 250 species in 19 genera. Seventeen genera are native to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition,the monotypic genus Tachycnemis occurs on the Seychelles Islands, and the genus Heterixalus is endemic to...
Laurent, 1943||20||Sedge frogs or bush frogs||Big-eyed Tree Frog
Big-eyed Tree Frog
The Big-eyed Tree Frog, or Peacock Tree Frog is a species of frog found in forest areas in the African country of Tanzania. In some literature it is referred to as the Amani Forest Tree Frog.-Physical description:...
(Leptopelis vermiculatus)||
|Leptodactylidae
Leptodactylidae
Leptodactylidae is a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic. There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species...
Werner
Franz Werner
Franz Werner was an Austrian zoologist and explorer. Specializing as a herpetologist and entomologist, Werner described numerous species and other taxa of frogs, snakes, insects, and other organisms....
, 1896||49||Southern frogs or tropical frogs||Cliff Chirping Frog (Eleutherodactylus marnockii)||
|Mantellidae
Mantellidae
Mantellidae is a family of the order Anura. These frogs are found only in Madagascar and Mayotte.The habits, habitat and appearance of these frogs are widely variable. Most species are terrestrial, though some are arboreal or aquatic. Body size ranges from 3 to 10 centimetres in length...
Laurent, 1946||5||-||Golden Mantella
Golden Mantella
The Golden Mantella is a small, terrestrial frog endemic to Madagascar.-Description:As suggested by the name, the Golden Mantella has an aqua/chartruse dorsal surface. The ventral surface is yellow in females, and a lighter yellow in the males. The inside of the thigh occasionally exhibits bright...
(Mantella aurantiaca)||
|Microhylidae
Microhylidae
Microhylidae is a geographically widespread family of frogs. There are 413 species in 69 genera and nine subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.-Description:...
Günther
Albert C. L. G. Günther
Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
, 1858 ||69||Narrow-mouthed frogs ||Sheep Frog
Sheep Frog
The Sheep Frog is a species of microhylid frog that is native to the Pacific and Caribbean lowlands from southern Texas to Costa Rica. Sheep Frogs make a distinctive call that resembles a sheep's bleat during and after rainfall in warm months.-External links:...
(Hypopachus variolosus)||
|Myobatrachidae
Myobatrachidae
Myobatrachidae is a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than long, to the second largest frog in Australia, the Giant Barred Frog , at in length...
Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history...
In Gray
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....
, 1850 ||20||Australian ground frogs||Great Barred Frog
Great Barred Frog
The Great Barred Frog is an Australian ground-dwelling frog of the genus Mixophyes.-Physical description:...
(Mixophyes fasciolatus)||
|Ranidae
Rafinesque, 1814||52||True frogs||American Bullfrog
Bullfrog
The American bullfrog , often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or “true frogs”, native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes, where it is usually found...
(Rana catesbeiana)||
|Rhacophoridae
Rhacophoridae
Rhacophoridae is a family of frog species, which occur in tropical regions of Asia and Africa. They are commonly known as shrub frogs, or more ambiguously as "moss frogs" or "bush frogs". Some Rhacophoridae are called "tree frogs"...
Hoffman
Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg
Johann Centurius Hoffmann Graf von Hoffmannsegg was a German botanist, entomologist and ornithologist.Hoffmannsegg was born at Rammenau and studied at Leipzig and Göttingen. He travelled through Europe acquiring vast collections of plants and animals. He visited Hungary, Austria and Italy in...
, 1932||9||Moss frogs||Malabar Flying Frog (Rhacophorus malabaricus)||
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|Rhinodermatidae
Rhinodermatidae
Rhinodermatidae are a family of small frogs found on the south-west coast of South America. There is only one genus , with just two species, of which the Chile Darwin's Frog is highly endangered or may already be extinct. The better known Darwin's Frog Rhinodermatidae are a family of small frogs...
Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano was a French naturalist and ornithologist.-Biography:...
, 1850||1||Darwin's frogs||Darwin's Frog
Darwin's Frog
Darwin's Frog is a frog native to the forest streams of Argentina and Chile. It was first described by French Zoologist André Marie Constant Duméril and his assistant Gabriel Bibron, and is named after Charles Darwin who discovered it in Chile during his world voyage on the HMS Beagle.The most...
(Rhinoderma darwinii)||
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|Sooglossidae
Sooglossidae
The Seychelles Frogs are a family of frogs found on the Seychelles Islands and India. Until recently this family was believed to include the genera Nesomantis and Sooglossus, but following a major revision of amphibians in 2006 the genus Nesomantis was named a junior synonym of Sooglossus;...
Noble
Gladwyn Kingsley Noble
Gladwyn Kingsley Noble was an American zoologist.- Works :*"American Egret at Martha's Vineyard, Mass" The Auk Vol. 31 N. 1: 100...
, 1931||2||Seychelles frogs||Gardiner's Seychelles Frog
Gardiner's Seychelles Frog
Gardiner's Frog is a small frog of the Sooglossidae family and endemic to the Seychelles.-Physical description:Gardiner's Frog is one of the smallest frogs in the world, reaching a maximum length of 11 millimetres . Newly hatched frogs measure only 3 millimetres in length. Adult males are only...
(Sooglossus gardineri)|| -
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