Ghost frogs
| Ghost frogs | ||||||||||||
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Eastern ghost frog ( Heleophryne orientalis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Heleophrynidae | ||||||||||||
| Noble , 1931 |
The ghost frogs (Heleophrynidae) were originally considered a monogeneric family with Heleophryne as the only genus. In 2008, the South African herpetologist David Eduard van Dijk classified the Natal ghost frog in a newly created second genus Hadromophryne . The ghost frogs are found in extreme South Africa, where cooler climatic conditions prevail. Their habitat are rushing brooks and rivers. They are nocturnal. During the day they live hidden under stones and in caves. The common name is probably derived from the transparent skin, especially on the abdomen, as well as their presence at Table Mountain Skeleton Gorge from.
features
Ghost frogs reach a size of 35 to 65 mm. With their flat body, they are adapted to climbing through crevices in the rock. Relative to their size, they have very large T-shaped adhesive discs on the tips of their fingers and toes that allow them to cling to rocks. Further characteristics of this genus are teeth on the ploughshare , vertical pupils, a disc-shaped tongue, the absence of a sternal element ( omosternum , ossified front part of the sternum ) and moderately widened transverse processes of the sacral vertebra . The tadpoles have mouth suction cups that allow them to hold on to the stony ground while they eat. It takes two years to develop from a tadpole to an adult frog.
Systematics
The ghost frogs are closely related to the Seychelles frogs and probably to the Australian southern frogs . There are six species in two genera:
Genus Heleophryne Sclater , 1898
- Hewitt's ghost frog ( Heleophryne hewitti Boycott , 1988) - Occurrence: The Geelhoutboom, Martin's, Klein and Diepkloof rivers in the Eastern Cape Province , South Africa.
- Eastern ghost frog ( Heleophryne orientalis FitzSimons , 1946) - Occurrence: Eastern Langeberg Mountains in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Was originally considered a subspecies of Heleophryne purcelli .
- Ghost frog ( Heleophryne purcelli Sclater , 1898) - Occurrence: Western Cape Province, South Africa from the Cederberg in the north further south to the Hex River , the Du Toit's Kloof, Hottentots Holland and Klein River Mountains and eastwards along the Riviersonderend and Langeberg Mountains.
- King ghost frog ( Heleophryne regis Hewitt , 1910) - Occurrence: Western and Eastern Cape Province.
- Cape ghost frog ( Heleophryne rosei Hewitt , 1925) - Occurrence: western slope of Table Mountain in the western Cape Province. The IUCN named it among the 100 most critically endangered species in 2012.
Genus Hadromophryne Van Dijk , 2008
- Natal ghost frog ( Hadromophryne natalensis , synonym: Heleophryne natalensis ( Hewitt , 1913)) - Occurrence: Drakensberg and Maluti Mountains in South Africa and Lesotho as well as in Swaziland.
literature
- Doubt, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, HG & Zweifel, RG (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians . San Diego: Academic Press. Pp. 104-105. ISBN 0-12-178560-2 .
- Noble, G. Kingsley (1931): The biology of the Amphibia . New York, McGraw-Hill.
- Lynch, JD : Evolutionary Relationships, Osteology, and Zoogeography of Leptodactyloid Frogs. In: Miscellaneous Publication No. 53rd (June 30, 1971). Museum of Natural History. University of Kansas, Lawrence: pp. 103-105
- Cochran, Doris M .: Knaur's animal kingdom in colors - amphibians . Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf. Munich / Zurich, 1970.
- Vincent Carruthers: Frogs and frogging in Southern Africa . Struik, 2001. ISBN 9781868726073
Web links
- The genus Heleophryne on the Tree of Life website
- Information on the Heleophrynidae family at Amphibiaweb
Individual evidence
- ^ D. Eduard Van Dijk, 2008: Clades in Heleophrynid Salientia: short communication. African Journal of Herpetology. 57-1 pp. 43-48.
- ↑ Priceless or Worthless - The world's most threatened species (PDF, English, 9.1 MB)