Horn frogs
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| Wied-Neuwied , 1824 |
The horn frogs or jewelry horn frogs ( Ceratophrys ) are a genus of Frog (Anura) that are native with eight kinds in South America. The German name is based on a horn-like tip over each eye, particularly marked in Painted Horned Frog ( Ceratophrys cornuta ) and the shield Frog ( Ceratophrys aurita ).
features
With their round body and huge mouth, which has also given them the name wide-mouthed frogs , horned frogs look like a ball with a mouth. The color consists of irregular spots that blur the contours of the animal ( somatolysis ). Some species have a bone shield in the dorsal skin, which is made up of several parts in Ceratophrys aurita and in one part in Ceratophrys ornata . The males are 10 to 13 cm, the females 15 to 20 cm, depending on the species.
The first describer , Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied , gave the genus the German name "Horned Toads" because they have a "cone-shaped pointed tip" on each eyelid.
Way of life
Horn frogs are hide hunters who bury themselves in moss, leaves or loose earth and lie in wait motionless for prey , which they can reach with one jump. Food animals are, in varying proportions depending on the size of the frog, insects , spiders , small rodents , lizards , young birds and other amphibians (including smaller conspecifics). In terrariums friends are known for their simple Beuteschema: trying anything to eat anything that moves and fits into her big mouth.
Taxonomy
Earlier the horn frogs belonged to the family of the southern frogs (Leptodactylidae i. W. S.). After their dissolution, they are now the namesake of the Ceratophryidae family . The previous subfamilies Telmatobiinae and Batrachylinae were raised to families. The taxon Beelzebufo , which was found to be fossilized in Madagascar in 2008 , is regarded as the sister taxon of the horned frogs , despite its geographical location .
Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied in 1824 described "the common horned toad" Ceratophrys varius from the area around Rio de Janeiro as a type of the genus . It later turned out that the same species had been described by Giuseppe Raddi as Bufo auritus a year earlier . As a result, the name Ceratophrys aurita was later chosen for the type species of the genus Ceratophrys because of the priority rule . The conservative by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as Rana cornuta described Painted Horned Frog ( Ceratophrys cornuta ) now belongs to the genus Ceratophrys .
- Ceratophrys aurita (Raddi, 1823) - shield frog
- Ceratophrys calcarata Boulenger, 1890
- Ceratophrys cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758) - Surinam or Painted Horned Frog
- Ceratophrys cranwelli Barrio, 1980 - Chaco horned frog
- Ceratophrys joazeirensis Mercadal, 1986
- Ceratophrys ornata (Bell, 1843) - Argentine or horned horned frog
- Ceratophrys proudmanni Steindachner, 1882
- Ceratophrys testudo Andersson, 1945
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied: Directory of the amphibians which are described in the second volume of the natural history of Brazil by Prince Max von Neuwied. Isis von Oken, 14, pp. 661-673, 1824, pp.
- ↑ G. Raddi: Continuazione della descrizione dei rettili Brasiliani. Memorie della Societa Italiana delle Scienze 19, pp. 58-73, Modena 1823
- ^ Leopold Joseph Franz Johann Fitzinger: Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus primus. Braumüller et Seidel, Vienna 1843, p. 32
literature
- Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied : Directory of the amphibians which are described in the second volume of the natural history of Brazil by Prince Max von Neuwied. Isis von Oken, 14, pp. 661–673, 1824 (first description)
