Leptodactylidae
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| Leptodactylidae Fossil range: 65–0 Ma Early Paleocene – Recent[1] |
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 Distribution of Leptodactylidae (in black)
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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]
[edit] Classification
Family LEPTODACTYLIDAE
- Subfamily Ceratophryinae - Horned Frogs
- Subfamily Cycloramphinae
- Subfamily Eleutherodactylinae - Robber Frogs
- Subfamily Leptodactylinae
- Subfamily Telmatobiinae - Water Frogs
[edit] References
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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:. PMID 17548823.
- ^ "AmphibiaWeb: Information on Amphibian Biology and Conservation". University of California, Berkeley, CA. http://amphibiaweb.org/lists/Leptodactylidae.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
[edit] 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
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