Mantellinae is a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 in the

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 ...

Mantellidae The Mantellidae are an amphibian family (biology), family of the order (biology), order Frog, Anura (frogs and toads), and are Endemism, endemic to the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar and Mayotte. At first glance, the diminutive, brightly-col ...

. These frogs are native to

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

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

. The species vary in size from under 25 mm (e.g. some species of ''

Blommersia ''Blommersia'' is a genus of frogs in the mantellid subfamily Mantellinae. This genus is restricted to Madagascar. At present it contains 11 species. It was formerly a subgenus of the genus ''Mantidactylus ''Mantidactylus'' is a frog genus i ...

'') to over 100 mm (e.g. '' Mantidactylus guttulatus''). The subfamily is most famous for the genus ''

Mantella ''Mantella'' (also known as golden frogs or Malagasy poison frogs) are a prominent genus of Aposematism, aposematic frogs in the family Mantellidae, Endemism, endemic to the island of Madagascar. Members of ''Mantella'' are Diurnality, diurnal an ...

'', which contains species that superficially resemble

poison dart frog Poison dart frog (also known as dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly known as poison arrow frog) is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. These species are ...

s of the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, and have converged on similar

aposematic Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the pr ...

colouration and toxins. As of 2 May 2016, there are 128 described species in this subfamily, but several more are described each year.

Systematics

Historically only two

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

were recognized within the Mantellinae: ''

'' and ''

Mantidactylus ''Mantidactylus'' is a frog genus in the mantellid subfamily Mantellinae. This genus is restricted to Madagascar. The genus is divided into several subgenera that form monophyletic genetic clusters and are ecologically similar. Taxonomy ''Mant ...

''. Several

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

were recognized within the genus ''Mantidactylus''. These were elevated to genus level in 2006 and are now universally accepted. These are ''

'', '' Boehmantis'', '' Gephyromantis'', ''

Guibemantis ''Guibemantis'' is a frog genus in the mantellid subfamily Mantellinae. This genus is restricted to Madagascar. At present it contains 25 species divided into two subgenera. Taxonomy The genus ''Guibemantis'' was erected as a subgenus of ''Man ...

'', ''

Spinomantis ''Spinomantis'' is a frog genus in the Mantellidae, mantellid subfamily Mantellinae. This genus is restricted to Madagascar. At present it contains 13 species. They are Arboreal locomotion, arboreal or terrestrial frogs and occur in or along smal ...

'', and '' Wakea''. ''

Tsingymantis ''Tsingymantis'' is a monotypic genus of frogs in the family Mantellidae. The sole species is ''Tsingymantis antitra''. Taxonomy ''Tsingymantis antitra'' was described by Glaw, Hoegg and Vences in 2006. Its taxonomic placement within the famil ...

'' is also often considered a member of this subfamily.

References

External links

* Mantellidae Taxa named by Raymond Laurent Amphibian subfamilies {{Mantellidae-stub