Short-headed frogs

Short-headed frogs
Breviceps gibbosus
Systematics
Superclass : Jaw mouths (Gnathostomata) Row : Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda) without rank: Amphibians (Lissamphibia) Order : Frog (anura) Subordination : Neobatrachia Family : Short-headed frogs
Scientific name
Brevicipitidae
Bonaparte , 1850

The short-headed frogs (Brevicipitidae) are a family within the order of the frogs , which is native to the eastern and southern parts of sub-Saharan Africa . Their distribution area extends from Ethiopia to Angola and South Africa . The species of the genera Callulina and Spelaeophryne are endemic to the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania .

features

All species of short-headed frogs have very small heads and hind legs, the males are usually much smaller than the females . In some species (especially the genus Breviceps ) the difference in size is so enormous that the males cannot perform the amplexus , the holding of clamps during mating , due to their small hind legs . This is why an adhesive secretion is secreted during mating so that the male does not slip off. The eggs are laid in the ground. From this, fully developed frogs hatch without development in a tadpole phase.

Systematics

The short-headed frogs used to belong to the family of Microhylidae , but recent molecular genetic analyzes suggest that they have a common ancestor with Hyperoliidae , Hemisotidae and Arthroleptidae .

Genera and species

• Genus Balebreviceps Largen & Drewes, 1989
  • Balebreviceps hillmani Largen & Drewes, 1989
• Genus Breviceps Merrem, 1820
  • Breviceps acutirostris Poynton, 1963
  • Breviceps adspersus Peters, 1882
  • Breviceps bagginsi Minter, 2003
  • Breviceps branchi Channing, 2012
  • Breviceps fichus Channing & Minter, 2004
  • Breviceps fuscus Hewitt, 1925
  • Breviceps gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Breviceps macrops Boulenger, 1907
  • Breviceps montanus Power, 1926
  • Breviceps mossambicus Peters, 1854
  • Breviceps namaquensis Power, 1926
  • Breviceps poweri Parker, 1934
  • Breviceps rosei Power, 1926
  • Breviceps sopranus Minter, 2003
  • Breviceps sylvestris FitzSimons, 1930
  • Breviceps verrucosus Rapp, 1842
• Genus Callulina Nieden, 1911
  • Callulina dawida Loader, Measey, de Sá & Malonza, 2009
  • Callulina hanseni Loader, Gower, Müller & Menegon, 2010
  • Callulina kanga Loader, Gower, Müller & Menegon, 2010
  • Callulina kisiwamsitu de Sá, Loader & Channing, 2004
  • Callulina kreffti Nieden, 1911
  • Callulina laphami Loader, Gower, Ngalason & Menegon, 2010
  • Callulina meteora Menegon, Gower & Loader, 2011
  • Callulina shengena Loader, Gower, Ngalason & Menegon, 2010
  • Callulina stanleyi Loader, Gower, Ngalason & Menegon, 2010
• Genus Probreviceps Parker, 1931
  • Probreviceps durirostris Loader, Channing, Menegon & Davenport, 2006
  • Probreviceps loveridgei Parker, 1931
  • Probreviceps macrodactylus (Nieden, 1926)
  • Probreviceps rhodesianus Poynton & Broadley, 1967
  • Probreviceps rungwensis Loveridge, 1932
  • Probreviceps uluguruensis (Loveridge, 1925)
• Genus Spelaeophryne Ahl, 1924
  • Spelaeophryne methneri Ahl, 1924

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://amphibiaweb.org/lists/Brevicipitidae.shtml
2. ↑ http://africanamphibians.lifedesks.org/pages/25326

literature

• Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte: Conspectus Systematum. Herpetologiae et Amphibiologiae. Editio altera reformata. EJ Brill, Leiden 1850 (first description)

Web links

Commons : Short-headed Frogs (Brevicipitidae)  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Photos and species list on AmphibiaWeb
• Darrel Frost: Brevicipitidae , Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, The American Museum of Natural History, 1998-2015.