Afrobatrachia is

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

in the suborder

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 toda ...

, all of which are restricted to

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 surfac ...

, including some species in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

. It is the

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 ...

to the clade Natatanura, which contains all other members of

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 ...

aside from

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family (biology), family of frogs. The 683 species are in 57 genera and 11 subfamilies. Evolution A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. ...

The diversity of the clade represents more than half the frog diversity found in Africa. Some can grow up to 66 mm in length. Species of the clade in lowland and montane forests display ecologies such as arboreality and fossoriality. The frogs show

direct development Direct development is a concept in biology. It refers to forms of growth to adulthood that do not involve metamorphosis. An animal undergoes direct development if the immature organism resembles a small adult rather than having a distinct larval ...

, the most terrestrial of which is shown the family

Brevicipitidae Brevicipitidae or rain frogs is a small Family (biology), family of frogs found in eastern and southern Africa. As of 2025 contains 38 species in 5 genera. eb application 2013. Berkeley, CaliforniaBrevicipitidae AmphibiaWeb, available at http ...

Families

Arthroleptidae The Arthroleptidae are a family (biology), family of frogs found in sub-Saharan Africa. This group includes African treefrogs in the genus ''Leptopelis'' along with the terrestrial breeding squeakers ''Arthroleptis'', and several genera restrict ...

(8 genera) *

(5 genera) *

Hemisotidae The shovelnose frogs are the species of frogs in the genus, ''Hemisus'', the monotypic, only genus in the Family (biology), family Hemisotidae. They are found in tropical and subtropical sub-Saharan Africa. The shovelnose frogs are moderate-sized ...

Cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

, 1867 (1 genus) *

Hyperoliidae The Hyperoliidae, or sedge frogs and bush frogs, are a large family of small to medium-sized, brightly colored frogs which contain more than 250 species in 19 genera. Seventeen genera are native to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the monotypic g ...

(17 genera)

References

Neobatrachia Frogs of Africa Tetrapod unranked clades Taxa named by Darrel Frost {{neobatrachia-stub