The Calyptocephalellidae are a family of

toads Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scienti ...

(although not true members of the

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, cat ...

) found in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

containing two living genera, ''

Calyptocephalella ''Calyptocephalella'' is a genus of frogs in the family Calyptocephalellidae. It is represented by a single living species, ''Calyptocephalella gayi'', commonly known as the helmeted water toad, Chilean helmeted bull frog or wide-mouth toad. Add ...

'' and '' Telmatobufo.'' The genus ''Calyptocephalella'' contains one living species, the

helmeted water toad ''Calyptocephalella'' is a genus of frogs in the family Calyptocephalellidae. It is represented by a single living species, ''Calyptocephalella gayi'', commonly known as the helmeted water toad, Chilean helmeted bull frog or wide-mouth toad. Add ...

(''C. gayi''), which is very large and mostly aquatic. The genus ''Telmatobufo'' contains four species, '' T. australis'', '' T. bullocki'', '' T. ignotus'', and '' T. venustus''. All five living species within the family are considered threatened, with ''T. bullocki'' and ''T. venustus'' being classified as critically endangered. The family has been present in southern South America since the end of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

and were present in the Antarctic Peninsula during the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

. While originally widespread in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

east of the Andes, they later became extinct in this region after the Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, likely due to increasingly cold and arid conditions. A particularly large indeterminate fossil species is known from the Eocene of southern Chile. They are the sister group to the superfamily Myobatrachoidea, which inhabits

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

; the ancestors of Myobatrachoidea likely diverged from Calyptocephalellidae in South America, but migrated south to Australasia via then ice-free

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. Together, these groups comprise the clade

Australobatrachia Australobatrachia ("southern frogs") is a clade of frogs in the suborder Neobatrachia. It comprises three families of frogs with a Gondwanan distribution, being known from Chile, Australia, and New Guinea. Together, they form the sister group ...

References

Australobatrachia Amphibians of Chile Endemic fauna of Chile Amphibian families Taxa named by Osvaldo Reig {{Neobatrachia-stub