genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
true frog
True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North Am ...
s from
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...
. Its
tadpole
A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...
s are adapted to fast-flowing mountain streams and easily recognizable by their divided upper lip with ribs on the outside.Stuart (2008)
Taxonomy and systematics
Its closest living relative is apparently the hole-in-the-head frog (''Huia cavitympanum''),
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
of the highly
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...
Huia
The huia ( ; ; ''Heteralocha acutirostris'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The last confirmed sighting of a huia was in 1907, although there was a credible sighting in 1924.
It ...
''. ''Meristogenys'', having been proposed far more recently than ''Huia'', might be included in the latter on grounds of
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
, as most if not all
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
placed in the ''Huia'' seem to belong elsewhere. But a group of species traditionally placed in ''Huia'' as well as the genus '' Clinotarsus'' are very close relatives, and therefore a
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. A ...
revision of this group is probably better deferred until the relationships of all
taxa
In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
involved have been properly assessed.Cai ''et al.'' (2007), Stuart (2008) ''Meristogenys'' on its own is a
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...
group.
Ecology
''Meristogenys'' are common frogs around the mountain streams of Borneo and among the commonest frogs in the mountainous regions of the island.
Tadpole
A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...
s are specialized for living in strong currents and have a heavy body. The snout is broadly rounded with a relatively oral disk underneath it. The body is flat below and has a large sucker, covering a larger portion of the abdomen.
Description
The largest species is ''
Meristogenys kinabaluensis
''Meristogenys kinabaluensis'' (common names: Kiau Borneo frog, Kinabalu torrent frog) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to Borneo and is found in Sabah, Sarawak (Malaysia), and Kalimantan (Indonesia). The specific name r ...
''; males reach and females in snout–vent length. Adults of different species are usually morphologically similar and difficult identify to species, and even difficult to distinguish from other ranid frogs, notably ''
Hylarana
''Hylarana'', commonly known as golden-backed frogs, is a genus of true frogs found in tropical Asia. It was formerly considered highly diverse, containing around 84 to 96 valid species, but taxonomic revision resulted in a major change in the c ...
''. In contrast, and unusually, the tadpoles are easier to identify to species than the adults.
Species
There are 13 species:
Footnotes
References
* (2007): Paraphyly of Chinese ''Amolops'' (Anura, Ranidae) and phylogenetic position of the rare Chinese frog, ''Amolops tormotus''. ''
Zootaxa
''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view ...