The southern frogs form the Leptodactylidae, a name that comes from Greek meaning a bird or other animal having slender toes. They are a diverse

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 ...

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 ski ...

s that most likely diverged from other hyloids during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. The family has undergone major taxonomic revisions in recent years, including the reclassification of the former subfamily Eleutherodactylinae into its own family the

Eleutherodactylidae The Eleutherodactylidae are a family of direct-developing frogs native to northern South America, the Caribbean, and southernmost North America. They are sometimes known under the common name rain frogs. Formerly the subfamily Eleutherodactylina ...

; the Leptodactylidae now number 206 species in 13 genera distributed throughout

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The family includes terrestrial, burrowing, aquatic, and arboreal members, inhabiting a wide range of habitats. Several of the genera within the Leptodactylidae lay their eggs in foam nests. These can be in crevices, on the surface of water, or on forest floors. These foam nests are some of the most varied among frogs. When eggs hatch in nests on the forest floor, the

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 remain within the nest, without eating, until

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

Classification

As of December 2019, the

Amphibian Species of the World ''Amphibian Species of the World 6.2: An Online Reference'' (ASW) is a herpetology database. It lists the names of frogs, salamanders and other amphibians, which scientists first described each species and what year, and the animal's known range ...

classifies the following genera in the family Leptodactylidae: * Subfamily Leiuperinae Bonaparte, 1850 (90 species) ** '' Edalorhina'' Jiménez de la Espada, 1870 ** ''

Engystomops ''Engystomops'' is a genus of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. They are commonly known as foam frogs or túngara frogs, though the latter name most commonly refers to ''Tungara frog, Engystomops pustulosus''. They are native to the Americas f ...

'' Jiménez de la Espada, 1872 ** ''

Physalaemus ''Physalaemus'' is a large genus of Leptodactylidae, leptodactylid frogs. These frogs, sometimes known as dwarf frogs or foam frogs, are found in South America. It is very similar to ''Leptodactylus'', a close relative, and indeed the recently ...

'' Fitzinger, 1826 ** ''

Pleurodema ''Pleurodema'' is a genus of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. The genus is endemic to South America. Species in the genus ''Pleurodema'' are sometimes known under the common name four-eyed frogs, although this common name can also refer to a ...

'' Tschudi, 1838 ** ''

Pseudopaludicola ''Pseudopaludicola'' is a genus of leptodactylid frogs from lowland northern and central South America. They are known under the common name dwarf swamp frogs or swamp frogs. Systematics ''Pseudopaludicola'' are small frogs, growing maximally ...

'' Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926 * Subfamily

Leptodactylinae The Leptodactylinae are a subfamily of leptodactylid frogs distributed between southern North America (Texas, USA, and Sonora, Mexico) and South America to Brazil. Their sister taxon is the clade comprising the Leiuperinae and Paratelmatobiina ...

Werner, 1896 (1838) (96 species) ** ''

Adenomera ''Adenomera'' is a genus of Leptodactylidae, leptodactylid frogs, sometimes known as tropical bullfrogs, found in South America east of the Andes. The genus was until recently considered a synonym of ''Leptodactylus''. Species The following spe ...

'' Steindachner, 1867 ** ''

Hydrolaetare ''Hydrolaetare'' is a genus of leptodactylid frogs. These frogs are found in Colombia, French Guiana, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world' ...

'' Gallardo, 1963 ** ''

Leptodactylus ''Leptodactylus'' is a genus of leptodactylid frogs. It includes the species commonly called ditch frogs or white-lipped frogs. It is very similar to ''Physalaemus'', a close relative, and indeed the 2005 described ''Leptodactylus lauramiriamae' ...

'' Fitzinger, 1826 ** ''

Lithodytes ''Lithodytes'' is a genus of frogs in the family of Leptodactylidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species, ''Lithodytes lineatus'', also commonly known as the gold-striped frog or painted antnest frog. It is found in tropical ...

'' Fitzinger, 1843 * Subfamily Paratelmatobiinae Ohler and Dubois, 2012 (13 species) ** '' Crossodactylodes'' Cochran, 1938 ** ''

Paratelmatobius ''Paratelmatobius'' is a genus of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. They are endemic to southern Brazil. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Paratelmatobius '': AmphibiaWeb also lists ''Paratelmatobius pictiventris ...

'' Lutz and Carvalho, 1958 ** '' Rupirana'' Heyer, 1999 ** '' Scythrophrys'' Lynch, 1971 * Incertae sedis ** "''Leptodactylus''" ''ochraceus'' Lutz, 1930

References

External links

Leptodactylidae, from the Tree of Life Web Project

Leptodactylidae taxonomy, from the NCBI taxonomy browser

Leptodactylid description, from AmphibiaWeb
{{Authority control Amphibian families Maastrichtian first appearances Taxa named by Franz Werner Fauna of the Neotropical realm