Rhinodermatidae, also known as Darwin's frogs, mouth-breeding frogs or mouth-brooding frogs, is a small family of

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 found in temperate forests of southern Chile and adjacent Argentina. They are a unique and evolutionary significant group of frogs, being the most

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

extant members of the widespread frog superfamily

Hyloidea Hyloidea is a superfamily of frogs.R.Alexander Pyron, John J.Wiens, 2011, ''A large-scale phylogeny of Amphibia including over 2800 species, and a revised classification of extant frogs, salamanders, and caecilians'' Hyloidea accounts for 54% ...

and having branched from the rest during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

, just a few million years prior to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The two genera, ''Rhinoderma'' and ''Insuetophrynus'', are thought to have diverged during the

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...

. Despite their ancient origins, all three species in the family are now endangered due to

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

, and especially the spread of chytridomycosis in their native habitats, and one, the Chile Darwin's frog (''Rhinoderma rufum''), may already be extinct.

Genera

There are two genera recognised with three species: * '' Insuetophrynus'' Barrio, 1970 (

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

) * '' Rhinoderma'' Duméril and Bibron, 1841 (2 species)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13408787 Amphibian families