Microhylidae is a geographically widespread family What does and does not belong to each family is determined by a taxonomist. Similarly for the question if a particular family should be recognized at all. Often there is no exact agreement, with different taxonomists each taking a different position. There are no hard rules that a taxonomist needs to follow in describing or recognizing a family of frogs Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin salere (salio), "to jump"). Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes and the absence of a tail. Frogs are widely known as exceptional jumpers, and many of the anatomical characteristics of frogs,. There are 413 species in 69 genera and nine subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.

Contents

Description

As suggested by their name, microhylids are mostly small frogs. Many species are below 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) in length, although some species are as large as 9 centimetres (3.5 in)[1]. They can be arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In every habitat in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may only scale trees occasionally, while others are exclusively arboreal. These habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them, leading to a variety of anatomical, or terrestrial, and some will even habit close to water. The ground dwellers are often found under leaf litter within forests, occasionally venturing out at night to hunt. There are two main shapes for the microhylids, one with wide bodies and narrow mouths, and the other with normal frog proportions. Those with narrow mouths generally eat termites The termites are a group of eusocial insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera . Along with ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide labour among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and take care of young collectively. Termites mostly feed on dead plant and ants A phylogeny of the extant ant subfamilies, and the others have diets typical of most frogs. The species of the genus Breviceps are burrowing frogs found in the arid regions of Africa. Some of their species will even lay their eggs under ground.

Reproduction

The microhylids of New Guinea New Guinea is a large island of the Australian continent. It is located in Melanesia, north of Australia in the Southwest Pacific. It is sometimes arbitrarily considered part of the Malay Archipelago, although it is geologically, culturally and environmentally different from the other islands included. It is the world's second largest island, and Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 177 completely bypass the tadpole A tadpole, polliwog , or pollywiggle (also polliwiggle, polwiggle, or porwiggle) is the wholly aquatic larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian, particularly of a frog or toad stage, with direct development from egg In most birds, reptiles, insects, fish, and two types of mammals an egg (Latin, ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo. When the embryo is adequately developed it breaks out of the egg in the to frog. The arboreal species can therefore lay the eggs within the trees, and never need venture to the ground. Where species do have tadpoles, these almost always lack the teeth or horny beak typical of the tadpoles of other families[1].

Anatomy

The skull has paired palatines and frontoparietals. Facial nerve passes through anterior acoustic foramen in auditory capsule; trigeminal and facial nerve ganglia are fused to form a prootic ganglion. There are eight (or seven) presacral holochordal vertebrae and they are all precoelous except for a biconcave surface on last presacral. Pectoral girdle is firmisternal and some show reduced clavicle and procoracoids Terminal phalanges blunt, pointed or t-shaped. Tadpoles lack keratinized mouth parts and have a large spiracular chamber emptied by a caudomedial spiracle.[2]

Range

Frogs from Microhylidae occur throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast, South America South America is the southern continent of America, situated in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest, Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population, eastern India Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Sri Lanka As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia.[citation needed] It has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times and is one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia, including Ladakh, Bhutan and the Chittagong Hill, south-east Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled, through New Guinea New Guinea is a large island of the Australian continent. It is located in Melanesia, north of Australia in the Southwest Pacific. It is sometimes arbitrarily considered part of the Malay Archipelago, although it is geologically, culturally and environmentally different from the other islands included. It is the world's second largest island, and Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 177. Although most are found in tropical or sub-tropical regions, a few species can be found in arid or non-tropical areas. They are the majority frog species in New Guinea and Madagascar Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world.

References

  1. ^ a b c Zweifel, Robert G. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G.. ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0-12-178560-2.
  2. ^ Zug et al.

External links

Wikispecies Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive free content catalogue of all species and is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public. Jimmy Wales—chairman emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation—stated that editors are not required to fax in their degrees, has information related to: Microhylidae
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Extant anuran Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin salere (salio), "to jump"). Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes and the absence of a tail. Frogs are widely known as exceptional jumpers, and many of the anatomical characteristics of frogs, families by suborder
Kingdom Animalia Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also · Phylum Chordata Chordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail. The phylum Chordata consists of three subphyla: Urochordata, represented by · Subphylum Craniata Craniata is a proposed clade of chordate animals that contains the Myxini (hagfish), Petromyzontida (including lampreys), and Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) as living representatives. As the name suggests, Craniata are animals with a (hard bone or cartilage) skull in Chordata · Superclass Tetrapoda Tetrapods are vertebrate animals having four feet, legs or leglike appendages. Amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are all tetrapods, and even the limbless snakes are tetrapods by descent. The earliest tetrapods radiated from the Sarcopterygii, or lobe-finned fish · Class Amphibia Amphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians, are ectothermic (or cold-blooded) animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, either to an adult air-breathing form, or to a paedomorph that retains some juvenile characteristics. Proteidae (mudpuppies and waterdogs) are good examples of paedomorphic species
Archaeobatrachia Archaeobatrachia is a suborder of Anura containing various primitive frogs and toads. As the name literally suggests, these are the most primitive frogs. Many of the species show certain physiological characteristics which are not present in other frogs and toads, thus giving rise to this group. They are largely found in Eurasia, New Zealand, the Ascaphidae The tailed frogs are two species of frogs. The species are part of the genus, Ascaphus is the only taxon in the family Ascaphidae . The "tail" in the name is actually an extension of the male cloaca. The tail is one of two distinctive anatomical features adapting the species to life in fast-flowing streams. It is the only North American · Bombinatoridae Bombinatoridae are often referred to as Fire-bellied toads because of their brightly colored ventral sides, which show that they are highly toxic to humans. This family includes two genera, Barbourula and Bombina, both of which have flattened bodies · Discoglossidae Discoglossidae is a family of primitive frogs, with the common name Disc-Tongued Frogs. They are native to Europe and North-West Africa · Leiopelmatidae Leiopelmatidae, or New Zealand primitive frogs, is a family belonging to the suborder Archaeobatrachia. Their relatively primitive form indicates that they have an ancient lineage. Only four species are known to belong to the family. As the common name suggests, they are only found in New Zealand
Mesobatrachia Mesobatrachia is the second largest of the Anura suborders of amphibians. It contains 6 families, 20 genera and 168 species. This is, of course, not matched to the 5,047 species noted in the Neobatrachia suborder. The name suggests they are moderately old Megophryidae Megophryidae are a large family of frogs native to the warm southeast of Asia, from the Himalaya foothills eastwards, south to Indonesia and the Greater Sunda Islands in Maritime Southeast Asia, and extending to the Philippines. As of mid-2008 it encompasses approximately 70-100 species of frog divided between 12 genera. For lack of a vernacular · Pelobatidae The European spadefoot toads are a family of frogs, the Pelobatidae, with only one genus Pelobates, containing four species. They are native to Europe, the Mediterranean, northwestern Africa and western Asia · Pelodytidae Parsley frogs, Pelodytidae, is a family of order Anura. The family consists of just one genus, Pelodytes, which contains only three species. These frogs can be found in southwestern Europe and the Caucasus. The common name of "parsley frogs" comes from the Common Parsley Frog which, because of its colouring, looks garnished with parsley · Pipidae The Pipidae are a family of primitive, tongueless frogs. The thirty species in the family Pipidae are found in tropical South America and sub-Saharan Africa (four other genera) · Scaphiopodidae Scaphiopodidae is a toad family of American spadefoot toads. They are native to southern Canada and USA south to southern Mexico. Scaphiopodidae is a small family, comprising of only seven species · Rhinophrynidae The Mexican Burrowing Toad is the only species in the genus Rhinophrynus and the family Rhinophrynidae of order Anura. These frogs live from the southern Texas through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador to Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The family was once more widespread, including species ranging as far north as Canada, but these died out in
Neobatrachia Neobatrachia are a suborder of the Anura, the order of frogs and toads. This suborder is the most advanced and apomorphic of the three anuran orders alive today; hence its name, which literally means "new frogs". It is also by far the largest of the three; its more than 5,000 different species make up over 96% of all living anurans Amphignathodontidae The marsupial frogs are a family in the order Anura. The family consists of two genera, Gastrotheca, and Flectonotus. These frogs are native to Neotropical America (= Central America & South America) · Aromobatidae · Arthroleptidae Arthroleptidae is a family of frogs found in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are also known as squeakers because of their high-pitched call. They are small, less than 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in length, terrestrial frogs found mostly in leaf litter on the forest floor. They completely bypass any aquatic stage, and therefore do not have tadpoles. They lay · Brachycephalidae · Bufonidae Bufonidae is the family of the true toads, members of the order Anura . They are the only family of anurans all members of which are known as "toads." The bufonids now comprise more than 35 genera, Bufo being the most widespread and well known · Centrolenidae · Craugastoridae Craugastoridae is a family of frogs which consists of 2 genera with a disjunct distribution: Craugastor and Haddadus · Dendrobatidae Poison dart frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. Unlike most frogs, these species are active during the day and often exhibit brightly-colored bodies. Although all wild dendrobatids are at least somewhat toxic, levels of toxicity vary considerably from one species to · Heleophrynidae The Heleophrynidae, is a family of order Anura, commonly known as ghost frogs. The family consists of a single genus, Heleophryne, and six species. Ghost frogs live in swift-moving mountain streams in South Africa. The common name of "ghost frogs" may have been coined because of their occurrence in Skeleton Gorge · Hemiphractidae · Hemisotidae The shovelnose frogs are nine species of frog in the genus, Hemisus, the only genus in the Family Hemisotidae. They are found in tropical and subtropical sub-Saharan Africa. The shovelnose frogs are moderate sized frogs, reaching a length of 8 centimetres . They are round-bodied, with short legs. Their head is small and narrow, with a hard, · Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semi-aquatic · Hyperoliidae · Leptodactylidae · Mantellidae · Microhylidae · Myobatrachidae · Petropedetidae · Ranidae · Rhacophoridae · Rhinodermatidae · Sooglossidae

Categories: Frogs by classification | Microhylidae

 

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