''Probreviceps'' is a small genus of brevicipitine

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

s with only six members. They occur in the montane forests of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, and possibly

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

. They are sometimes known as the forest frogs, forest rain frogs, big-fingered frogs, or primitive rain frogs.

Description

''Probreviceps'' are burrowing frogs with short limbs and

direct development Marine larval ecology is the study of the factors influencing dispersing larvae, which many marine invertebrates and fishes have. Marine animals with a larva typically release many larvae into the water column, where the larvae develop before met ...

(i.e., there is no free-living larval stage); the eggs are deposited in burrows. Maximum

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

is between in males and between in females, depending on the species. Males often have larger

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

than females. No discs are present on fingers or toes. Species identification is based on male advertisement calls, features of hands and feet, and distribution.

Species

There are six recognized species: * '' Probreviceps durirostris'', Snouted forest frog * '' Probreviceps loveridgei'', Loveridge's forest frog * '' Probreviceps macrodactylus'', Large-fingered forest frog * '' Probreviceps rhodesianus'', Highland forest frog * '' Probreviceps rungwensis'', Rungwe forest frog * '' Probreviceps uluguruensis'', Uluguru forest frog

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2343578 Brevicipitidae Amphibian genera Amphibians of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxa named by Hampton Wildman Parker