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Sooglossoidea
Sooglossoidea is a superfamily of frogs. It contains only two highly divergent families consisting of three genera with two species each, one family being found in southwestern India and the other in the Seychelles. Taxonomy The Sooglossoidea are an ancient division of the Neobatrachia; phylogenetic evidence indicates that they diverged from the rest of the Neobatrachia during the Early Cretaceous, about 125 million years ago, after colonizing Insular India from Africa. One family, the Nasikabatrachidae, remained in India; the other, Sooglossidae, was isolated on the Seychelles Microcontinent (which later turned into an island chain) after it split from India. Both families are thought to have diverged around the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Their exact phylogenetic relationships are disputed; previous studies found them to be the second-most basal member of the Neobatrachia, being sister to all other members of the group aside from Heleophrynidae, but more recent studies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neobatrachia
The Neobatrachia (Neo-Latin ''neo-'' ("new") + ''batrachia'' ("frogs")) are a suborder of the Frog, Anura, the order (biology), order of frogs and toads. This suborder is the most advanced and apomorphic of the three anuran suborders alive today, hence its name, which literally means "new frogs" (from the hellenic languages, hellenic words ''neo'', meaning "new" and ''batrachia'', meaning "frogs"). It is also by far the largest of the three; its more than 5,000 different species make up over 96% of all living anurans. The differentiation between Archaeobatrachia, Mesobatrachia, and Neobatrachia is based primarily on anatomic differences, especially the skeletal structure, as well as several visible characteristics and behaviors. Systematics Separating the Frog, Anura into the Archaeo-, Meso- and Neobatrachia is somewhat controversial; as more research is done and more knowledge is gained, it is becoming even less clear, because many characteristics used for this differentiati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indobatrachus
''Indobatrachus'' (Greek for "Indian frog") is an extinct genus of frog known from the Early Paleocene (Danian) of India. It contains a single species, ''Indobatrachus pusillus''. Two other species, ''I. trivialis'' and ''I. malabaricus'', were also previously described, but these have since been synonymized with ''I. pusillus''. ''Indobatrachus'' was a very small frog, only long as an adult. It is known from numerous complete but poorly-preserved specimens (known by Richard Owen as "batracholites") from the Intertrappean Beds of Worli Hill, Mumbai. The stratigraphy of the specimens is disputed; they were originally dated to the Early Eocene, but later thought to be latest Cretaceous in age (66 mya). However, more recently, the intertrappean rocks around Mumbai have been dated to the late Danian, around 62.5 million years ago, representing the youngest eruptive event in the western Deccan volcanic province. The taxonomy of this genus is debated; it was previously classified w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to wart-like parotoid glands tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal and purely cosmetic, not from taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest and associated wetlands. They account for around 88% of extant amphibian species, and are one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar (250Myr, million years ago), but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their divergent evolution, divergence from other amphibians may exte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nasikabatrachus
''Nasikabatrachus'' is a genus of frogs. It is presently treated as the only genus in the family Nasikabatrachidae, though previously it was included in the family Sooglossidae. Two species are recognized, ''Nasikabatrachus bhupathi'' and ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'', both Endemism, endemic to southwestern India. Both Nasikabatrachidae and Sooglossidae are thought to be the only extant families of the superfamily Sooglossoidea. With its closest relatives in the Seychelles, ''Nasikabatrachus'' is thought to have evolved separately since the end of the Cretaceous. Its discovery added to the evidence that Madagascar and the Seychelles separated from the Indian landmass sometime well after the breakup of Gondwana had started. Reproduction The purple frog is an explosive seasonal breeder species which completes its development in ephemeral streams. Its breeding activities typically take place during the months of April and May, which is during the pre-monsoon shower. References [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladwyn Kingsley Noble
Gladwyn Kingsley Noble (September 20, 1894 – December 9, 1940) was an American zoologist who served as the head curator for the department of herpetology and the department of experimental biology at the American Museum of Natural History. Noble received bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard University in 1917 and 1918, respectively, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1922. He joined the herpetology department in 1922 as a research assistant and assistant curator in 1917, and became the chairman of the department in 1924. He later formed the Department of Experimental Biology in 1928, and served as the chairman of both departments until his death on December 9, 1940, from a streptococcal throat infection. Background Noble's father was Gilbert Clifford Noble, one of the founders of what would become Barnes & Noble bookstores and publishing house. Gilbert Clifford Noble joined the Arthur Hinds & Company firm in 1886 after graduating from Harvard College. In 1894, he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With nearly billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Demographics of Africa, Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including Geography of Africa, geography, Climate of Africa, climate, corruption, Scramble for Africa, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranoidea
The Ranoidea are a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of frogs in the order Anura. Members of this superfamily are characterised by having the pectoral girdle fused into a single complex unit, having no ribs, and using an axillary grip during amplexus. The larvae have a single Spiracle (vertebrates), spiracle on the left side and complex mouthparts, or in some species, undergo direct development. The taxonomy of these families has been under heavy debate for many years. In recent studies, molecular data has been used to better identify the phylogentic relationships of these frogs, rearranging and introducing new subfamilies to better distinguish between large groups of frogs (Glaw, Vences, 2001). The Rainodea superfamily is a large group of frogs from the anura order, with 17 subfamilies. Some of these subfamilies are made up of over 300+ species. Most of the frogs belonging to this group are listed under the least concern section of the IUCN red list. However, there is a significant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghost Frog
Heleophrynidae is a family of frogs, commonly known as ghost frogs. They are thought to be the most basal group in the Neobatrachia. The family consists of two genera, '' Heleophryne'' and '' Hadromophryne'', with seven species. Ghost frogs live in swift-moving mountain streams in South Africa. The common name of "ghost frogs" may have been coined because of their occurrence in Skeleton Gorge. Taxonomy The ghost frogs were formerly thought to be closely related to the Sooglossidae of the Seychelles (which are now thought to be a sister group to Ranoidea), or to the Australian Myobatrachidae, which are now thought to be a sister group to Hyloidea. In contrast, more recent taxonomic studies place them as being the most basal extant members of the Neobatrachia and having no close relatives, having diverged from the rest of the Neobatrachia during the Early Cretaceous, about 140 million years ago. Family Heleophrynidae * Genus '' Hadromophryne'' Van Dijk, 2008 ** Natal ghost fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister Group
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and taxon B are sister groups to each other. Taxa A and B, together with any other extant or extinct descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), form a monophyletic group, the clade AB. Clade AB and taxon C are also sister groups. Taxa A, B, and C, together with all other descendants of their MRCA form the clade ABC. The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree which offers yet more sister group relationships, both among the leaves and among larger, more deeply rooted clades. The tree structure shown connects through its root to the rest of the universal tree of life. In cladistic standards, taxa A, B, and C may represent specimens, species, genera, or any other taxonomic units. If A and B are at the same taxono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary, formerly known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) boundary, is a geological signature, usually a thin band of rock containing much more iridium than other bands. The K–Pg boundary marks the end of the Cretaceous Period, the last period of the Mesozoic Era, and marks the beginning of the Paleogene Period, the first period of the Cenozoic Era. Its age is usually estimated at 66 million years, with radiometric dating yielding a more precise age of 66.043 ± 0.043 Ma. The K–Pg boundary is associated with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a mass extinction which destroyed a majority of the world's Mesozoic species, including all dinosaurs except for some birds. Strong evidence exists that the extinction coincided with a large meteorite impact at the Chicxulub crater and the generally accepted scientific theory is that this impact triggered the extinction event. The word "Cretaceous" is derived from the Latin "creta" ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
