Pelobatoidea
| Pelobatoidea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pelobates cultripes | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Suborder: | Mesobatrachia |
| Superfamily: | Pelobatoidea Stannius, 1856 |
The Pelobatoidea are a superfamily of frogs. They typically combine a toad-like body shape with a frog-like, pointed face (hence the German name 'Krötenfrösche', literally 'toad frogs'). Phylogenetically they stand between primitive frogs (fire-bellied toads, midwife toads) on the one side and higher frogs (the family of true toads, tree frogs, and the family of true frogs) on the other and are therefore - among other things by characteristics of bone construction - in the suborder Mesobatrachia.
The Pelobatoidea contain are more than 140 species in 12 genera and 2 families. The distribution covers Europe, North Africa and West Asia (Family Pelobatidae) and Southeast Asia (family Megophryidae). Their sister group are the Pelodytoidea, consisting of North American spadefood toads and parsley frogs.
A striking characteristic is the vertically slit pupil in daylight. The tongue is thick, circular and almost entirely adhering to the floor of the mouth. When mating the males clutches the females in the lumbar region, just before the hind legs (inguinal Amplexus).
Taxonomy to the genus level
(In addition, otherwise individual species listed)
- Family Megophryidae Bonaparte, 1850 - Asia
- Genus Atympanophrys Tian and Hu, 1983 (2 species)
- Genus Brachytarsophrys Tian and Hu, 1983 (5 species)
- Genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 (7 species)
- Genus Leptobrachium Tschudi, 1838 (12 species)
- Genus Leptolalax Dubois, 1980 (18 species)
- Genus Megophrys Kuhl & Hasselt, 1822 - Asian horned frogs (6 species)
- Species Megophrys nasuta Schlegel, 1858 - Long-nosed horned frog
- Genus Ophryophryne Boulenger, 1903 (4 species)
- Genus Oreolalax Myers & Leviton, 1962 (17 species)
- Genus Scutiger Theobald, 1868 (18 species)
- Genus Vibrissaphora Liu, 1945 (5 species)
- Genus Xenophrys Günther, 1864 (29 species)
- Family Pelobatidae Bonaparte, 1850 - European spadefoot toad
- Genus Pelobates Wagler, 1830 - European spadefoot toad (4 species)
- Species Pelobates cultripes (Cuvier, 1829) - Western Spadefoot
- Species Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768) - Common Spadefoot
- Genus Pelobates Wagler, 1830 - European spadefoot toad (4 species)
Pelodytoidea
- Family Pelodytidae Bonaparte, 1850 - parsley frogs
- Genus Pelodytes Bonaparte, 1838 - parsley frogs (3 types)
- Species Pelodytes punctatus (Daudin, 1802) - Common parsley frog
- Genus Pelodytes Bonaparte, 1838 - parsley frogs (3 types)
- Family Scaphiopodidae Cope, 1865 - American spadefoot toads
- Genus Scaphiopus Holbrook, 1836 (3 types)
- Species Scaphiopus couchii Baird, 1854 - Couch's spadefoot toad
- Genus Spea Cope, 1866 (4 species)
- Genus Scaphiopus Holbrook, 1836 (3 types)
See also
- classification of amphibians, with references here for the common taxonomy of amphibians.
Also information on a completely new, phylogenetically based classification model
Further reading
- Herre, W. (1950): On the problem of taxonomy of Anuren. Zool. Scoreboard164 ', p. 394-400.
- Kuhn, O. (1961): The families of the recent and fossil amphibians and reptiles, 79 pp publishing house Meisenhelder Bach KG Bamberg.