The Alytidae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of primitive frogs. Their common name is painted frogs or midwife toads. Most are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, but three species occur in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct is found in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. This family is also known as Discoglossidae, but the older name Alytidae has priority and is now recognized by major reference works. Some researchers, though, suggest that '' Alytes'' and ''

Discoglossus ''Discoglossus'' (common name: painted frogs) is a genus of frogs in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae) found in southern Europe and northwestern Africa. Species Six species are placed in this genus. The Hula painted frog (''Latonia n ...

'' are different enough to be treated as belonging to separate families, implying resurrection of the Discoglossidae. The term "discoglossid" has also been used to refer to many primitive fossil frogs that share

plesiomorphic In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, an ...

(ancestral) similities to alytids, but that are probably not closely related.

Genera and species

The family contains three

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

genera, '' Alytes'', ''

'', 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. The third genus was until recently considered extinct, and is represented by the recently rediscovered

Hula painted frog The Hula painted frog (''Latonia nigriventer'') is a species of frog endemic to the Lake Hula marshes in northern Israel. It is the only living member of the genus '' Latonia,'' which is otherwise known from fossils from Europe spanning from th ...

. All of the species have pond-dwelling

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s. The genera ''

Bombina The fire-bellied toads are a group of six species of small frogs (most species typically no longer than ) belonging to the genus ''Bombina''. The name "fire-bellied" is derived from the brightly colored red- or yellow-and-black patterns on the ...

'' and ''

Barbourula ''Barbourula'' is a genus of amphibian commonly referred to as jungle toads. They are small toads of the fire-bellied toad family, Bombinatoridae, found in the Philippines and Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest i ...

'' also used to be under this family, but have now been moved to the

Bombinatoridae Bombinatoridae is a family (biology), family of toads found in Eurasia. Species of the family have flattened bodies and some are highly toxic. Taxonomy and systematics Fossil specimens of the genus ''Bombina'' are known from the Pliocene to the ...

Extant genera

Extinct genera

Family Alytidae * Genus †''

Enneabatrachus ''Enneabatrachus'' (meaning " uarrynine frog") is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs known from the late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the United StatesFoster, J. (2007). "''Enneabatrachus hechti''" ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morri ...

'' (

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

) ** †''Enneabatrachus hechti'' * Genus †'' Aralobatrachus'' (prehistoric) ** †''Aralobatrachus robustus'' * Genus †'' Callobatrachus'' (prehistoric) ** †''Callobatrachus sanyanensis'' * Genus †'' Bakonybatrachus'' (prehistoric) ** †''Bakonybatrachus fedori'' * Genus †''

Eodiscoglossus ''Eodiscoglossus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs. It is known from the type species ''E. santonjae'' from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation and El Castellar Formation of Spain, as well as a referred speci ...

'' (prehistoric) ** †''Eodiscoglossus oxoniensis'' ** †''Eodiscoglossus santonjae'' File:Benny Trapp Alytes cisternasii.jpg, Iberian midwife toad (''

Alytes cisternasii The Iberian midwife toad or brown midwife toad (''Alytes cisternasii''), in Portuguese , is a species of frog in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae) found in Portugal and western Spain. It is typically found in open habitats such as mea ...

'') File:Discoglossus galganoi rechts.jpg, Iberian or Portuguese painted frog (''Discoglossus galganoi'') File:Latonia seyfriedi 001.jpg, Fossil discoglossid from Miocene (†''Latonia seyfriedi'')

References

* *

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4747664 Archaeobatrachia * Extant Late Jurassic first appearances Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger Amphibian families Fauna of the Palearctic realm