Alytidae

Alytidae
Temporal range: Late Jurassic to Recent[1]
Alytes obstetricans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Alytidae
Fitzinger, 1843
Genera

Genus Alytes
Genus Discoglossus
Genus Latonia
   

Distribution of Discoglossidae (in black)
Synonyms

Discoglossidae Günther, 1859

The Alytidae are a family of primitive frogs.[2][3][4][5] Their common name is painted frogs[2] or midwife toads.[4] Most are endemic to Europe, but there are also three species in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct in Israel.

This family is also known as Discoglossidae, but the older name Alytidae has priority and is now recognized by major reference works.[2][3][4][5] However, some researchers suggest that Alytes and Discoglossus are different enough to be treated as separate families, implying resurrection of Discoglossidae.[2]

Genera and species

The family contains three extant genera, Alytes, Discoglossus, and Latonia. The first is somewhat toad-like and can often be found on land. The second is smoother and more frog-like, preferring the water.[6] The third genus was until recently considered extinct, and is represented by the recently rediscovered Hula painted frog. All of the species have pond-dwelling tadpoles.

The genera Bombina and Barbourula also used to be under this family, but have now been moved to the Bombinatoridae.[7]

Family Alytidae

References

  1. 1 2 3 Foster, J. (2007). "Enneabatrachus hechti" Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. p. 137.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Alytidae Fitzinger, 1843". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Alytidae Fitzinger, 1843". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  4. 1 2 3 "Alytidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 Blackburn, D.C.; Wake, D.B. (2011). "Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 39–55.
  6. ↑ Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G., eds. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
  7. ↑ Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Bombinatoridae Gray, 1825". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  • San Mauro, Diego; Garcia-Paris, Mario; Zardoya, Rafael (December 2004). "Phylogenetic relationships of discoglossid frogs (Amphibia:Anura:Discoglossidae) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear genes". Gene. 343 (2): 357–366. doi:10.1016/j.gene.2004.10.001. PMID 15588590.
  • San Mauro, Diego; Vences, Miguel; Alcobendas, Marina; Zardoya, Rafael; Meyer, Axel (May 2005). "Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea". American Naturalist. 165 (5): 590–599. doi:10.1086/429523. JSTOR 10.1086/429523. PMID 15795855.
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