Dancing frogs
| Dancing frogs | ||||||||||||
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Dancing frog |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Micrixalidae | ||||||||||||
| Dubois , Ohler & Biju , 2001 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Micrixalus | ||||||||||||
| Boulenger , 1888 |
The dancing frogs ( Micrixalus ) are a genus of small frogs that are endemic to the Western Ghats in western India .
features
The frogs are small with body lengths of 2.5 to 3.5 cm. In most cases, they are brownish or reddish brown in color and have relatively smooth skin. The eardrum is small. The hind feet are webbed while the fingers of the front feet are free. The characteristic features used for a diagnosis of the genus concern the shoulder girdle . They usually have an omosternum, an element of the sternum that protrudes through the collarbones (firmisternal shoulder girdle), which usually has a point made of cartilage and is not forked in the dancing frogs. In addition, the epicoracoid cartilages have grown together at the front and back.
Way of life
Dancing frogs live in mountain rainforests near fast flowing streams and rivers. They prefer to stay on wet stones near the water. The males are territorial and mark their territory and woo females by shouting and conspicuously wagging their hind legs. The dancing frogs lay their spawn directly on the bank on stones that are located within the splash zone or buried in the bottom of the water. The dancing frog tadpoles have remained unknown for more than 125 years since the genus was described in 1888. They are elongated like eels, have a powerful tail and are up to 3 cm long. The tadpoles live like earthworms in sandy or gravelly banks, in the bottom of the water or in sandbars, usually at depths of 10 to 40 centimeters and feed on organic particles that they find in the soil.
species
There are currently 24 species in the genus Micrixalus .
As of February 5, 2020
- Micrixalus adonis Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus candidus Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus elegans (Rao, 1937)
- Micrixalus frigidus Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus fuscus (Boulenger, 1882)
- Micrixalus gadgili Pillai & Pattabiraman, 1990
- Micrixalus herrei (Myers, 1942)
- Micrixalus kodayari Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus kottigeharensis (Rao, 1937)
- Micrixalus kurichiyari Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus mallani Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus nelliyampathi Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus nigraventris Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus niluvasei Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus nudis Pillai, 1978
- Micrixalus phyllophilus (Jerdon, 1854)
- Micrixalus sali Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus saxicola (Jerdon, 1854)
- Micrixalus silvaticus (Boulenger, 1882)
- Micrixalus sairandhri Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus specca Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus spelunca Biju et al., 2014
- Micrixalus thampii Pillai, 1981
- Micrixalus uttaraghati Biju et al., 2014
Systematics
The genus Micrixalus was introduced in 1888 by the Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger . The type species is Ixalus fuscus Boulenger, 1882 . In 2001 the dancing frogs were placed in a subfamily Micrixalinae within the family of the real frogs (Ranidae) and in 2006 this subfamily was raised to the family rank as part of an extensive phylogenetic study of the amphibians. The Micrixalidae are the sister group of the Ceratobatrachidae .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Vitt, Laurie J .; Caldwell, Janalee P. (2013). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press, ISBN 978-0123869197 , p. 509.
- ↑ Bizarre: Tadpoles dig like worms in the sand 125 years of searching for the larvae of dancing frogs was finally successful at scinexx.de
- ↑ Gayani Senevirathne, Sonali Garg, Ryan Kerney, Madhava Meegaskumbura, SD Biju: Unearthing the Fossorial Tadpoles of the Indian Dancing Frog Family Micrixalidae. PLOS, March 2016, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0151781
- ↑ Biju, SD; Sonali Garg; KV Gururaja; Yogesh Shouche; Sandeep A. Walujkar (2014). "DNA barcoding reveals unprecedented diversity in Dancing Frogs of India (Micrixalidae, Micrixalus ): a taxonomic revision with description of 14 new species". Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences). 43 (1): 37-123. doi: 10.4038 / cjsbs.v43i1.6850
- ↑ Micrixalus at AmphibiaWeb
- ↑ Micrixalus at Amphibian Species of the World
- ↑ Dubois, A., A. Ohler, and SD Biju. 2001. A new genus and species of Ranidae (Amphibia, Anura) from south-western India . Alytes. Paris 19: 53-79.
- ↑ Frost, DR, T. Grant, J. Faivovich, RH Bain, A. Haas, CFB Haddad, RO de Sá, A. Channing, M. Wilkinson, SC Donnellan, CJ Raxworthy, JA Campbell, BL Blotto, PE Moler, RC Drewes, RA Nussbaum, JD Lynch, DM Green, and WC Wheeler. 2006. The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297: 236.
