Megophryidae, commonly known as goose frogs, is a large

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 native to the warm southeast of Asia, from the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n foothills eastwards, south to Indonesia and the Greater Sunda Islands in

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

, and extending to the Philippines. Fossil remains are also known from North America. it encompasses 246 species of frogs divided between five genera. For lack of a better vernacular name, they are commonly called megophryids.

Morphology

The megophryids are notable for their

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

, especially those that live in

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, which often look like dead leaves. The camouflage is accurate to the point of some having skin folds that look like leaf veins, and at least one species, the long-nosed horned frog (''Megophrys montana'') has sharp projections extending past the eye and nose, which disguise the frog shape. Megophryids range in size from in length. The adults' tongues are noticeably paddle-shaped. Their tadpoles can be found in a variety of waters, but especially

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s and

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s. The tadpoles are extremely diverse in form because of the variety of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s they inhabit.

Genera

The following genera are recognised in the family Megophryidae; '' Amphibian Species of the World'' and AmphibiaWeb differ on the number of species per genera, leading to the variability in numbers: * Subfamily Leptobrachiinae (pseudomoustache toads; 216 species) ** '' Leptobrachella'' Smith, 1925 (Borneo frogs; 85-93 species) ** '' Leptobrachium'' Tschudi, 1838 (eastern spadefoot toads; 38 species) **'' Leptolalax'' Dubois, 1980 (50 species) ** '' Oreolalax'' Myers and Leviton, 1962 (19 species) ** '' Scutiger'' Theobald, 1868 (cat-eyed toads; 24 species) *Subfamily Megophryinae (124 species) ** '' Atympanophrys'' Tian and Hu, 1983 (hidden-tympanum horned toads; 3-4 species) ** '' Boulenophrys'' Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2016 (Chinese horned toads; 65 species) **'' Brachytarsophrys'' Tian & Hu, 1983 (Karin Hills frogs; 8 species) **'' Grillitschia'' Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021 (2 species) **'' Jingophrys'' Lyu and Wang, 2023 (diminutive horned toads; 6 species) **'' Megophrys'' Kuhl and Van Hasselt, 1822 (Indonesian horned toads; 5-8 species) **'' Ophryophryne'' Boulenger, 1903 (narrow-mouth horned toads; 6 species) **'' Pelobatrachus'' Beddard, 1908 "1907" (clay horned toads; 7 species) **'' Sarawakiphrys'' Lyu and Wang, 2023 (Sarawak horned toads; 1 species) **'' Xenophrys'' Günther, 1864 (strange-horned toads; 28-31 species)

Evolution

The origin of this group of frogs was largely unknown, due to the lack of members of this family in the fossil record. While the family was originally considered to have originated in the early-mid

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 ...

(100-126 mya) via fossils of related frog groups, a study in early 2017 revealed that this was likely an overestimation. Using DNA sequencing, the study indicated the group more likely originated much later during the Cretaceous period, around 77 mya. The study also indicated that there are likely many more new species in the family that are currently unknown to science. While the family is currently restricted to Asia, fossils indicate that it once had a much wider distribution extending to North America. The earliest known fossils of this family are from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

* (2004): ''Encyclopedia of Reptiles & Amphibians'' (2nd ed.). Fog City Press. * (2003): Animal Diversity Web &ndash
Megophryidae
Retrieved 2006-MAY-08.

Morphology

Genera

Evolution

References

Further reading