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Myobatrachoidea
Myobatrachoidea is a superfamily of frogs. It contains two families, both of which are found in Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. Some sources group these two families into a single family Myobatrachidae. Their closest relatives are thought to be the Calyptocephalellidae of southern South America, from which they diverged during the mid-Cretaceous (about 100 million years ago). Together, they comprise the clade Australobatrachia; their common ancestor is thought to have inhabited South America, with the ancestors of Myobatrachoidea dispersing to Australasia during the Cretaceous via (then ice-free) Antarctica. Both families within Myobatrachoidea are thought to have diverged from each other during the Late Cretaceous or during the earliest Paleocene (immediately after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event). Taxonomy Myobatrachoidea contains the following families: * Limnodynastidae - 44 species * Myobatrachidae Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myobatrachoidea
Myobatrachoidea is a superfamily of frogs. It contains two families, both of which are found in Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. Some sources group these two families into a single family Myobatrachidae. Their closest relatives are thought to be the Calyptocephalellidae of southern South America, from which they diverged during the mid-Cretaceous (about 100 million years ago). Together, they comprise the clade Australobatrachia; their common ancestor is thought to have inhabited South America, with the ancestors of Myobatrachoidea dispersing to Australasia during the Cretaceous via (then ice-free) Antarctica. Both families within Myobatrachoidea are thought to have diverged from each other during the Late Cretaceous or during the earliest Paleocene (immediately after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event). Taxonomy Myobatrachoidea contains the following families: * Limnodynastidae - 44 species * Myobatrachidae Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australobatrachia
Australobatrachia ("southern frogs") is a clade of frogs in the suborder Neobatrachia. It comprises three families of frogs with a Gondwanan distribution, being known from Chile, Australia, and New Guinea. Together, they form the sister group to the superfamily Hyloidea. Taxonomy The common ancestor of all three families inhabited South America during the Early Cretaceous (about 125 million years ago). By about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of the Calyptocephalellidae diverged from the Myobatrachoidea, as the ancestral Myobatrachoidea moved south, colonizing the Australian continent via then-unglaciated Antarctica. The two families within Myobatrachoidea diverged from each other later in the Cretaceous or during the earliest Paleocene. Australobatrachia contains the following subgroups: * Calyptocephalellidae - Chilean toads (5 species) * Myobatrachoidea ** Limnodynastidae - Australian ground frogs (44 species) ** Myobatrachidae Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limnodynastidae
Limnodynastidae, commonly known as the Australian ground frogs, is a family of frogs found in Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. They were formerly considered a subfamily of the Myobatrachidae, the other large radiation of terrestrial frogs in Australia, but are now considered a distinct family. Both Limnodynastidae and Myobatrachidae are thought to be the only members of the superfamily Myobatrachoidea Myobatrachoidea is a superfamily of frogs. It contains two families, both of which are found in Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. Some sources group these two families into a single family Myobatrachidae. Their closest relatives are .... Taxonomy The following genera are recognised in the family Limnodynastidae: References Limnodynastidae Myobatrachoidea Amphibian families Amphibians of Australia Amphibians of New Guinea Amphibians of Papua New Guinea {{Neobatrachia-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calyptocephalellidae
The Calyptocephalellidae are a family of toads (although not true members of the Bufonidae) found in Chile containing two living genera, ''Calyptocephalella'' and ''Telmatobufo.'' The genus ''Calyptocephalella'' contains one living species, the helmeted water toad (''C. gayi''), which is very large and mostly aquatic. The genus ''Telmatobufo'' contains four species, '' T. australis'', '' T. bullocki'', '' T. ignotus'', and '' T. venustus''. All five living species within the family are considered threatened, with ''T. bullocki'' and ''T. venustus'' being classified as critically endangered. The family has been present in southern South America since the end of the Cretaceous and were present in the Antarctic Peninsula during the Eocene. While originally widespread in Patagonia east of the Andes, they later became extinct in this region after the Late Miocene, likely due to increasingly cold and arid conditions. A particularly large indeterminate fossil species is known from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myobatrachidae
Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian ground frogs or Australian water frogs, is a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than long, to the second-largest frog in Australia, the giant barred frog (''Mixophyes iteratus''), at in length. The entire family is either terrestrial or aquatic frogs, with no arboreal species. Characteristics The family Myobatrachidae contains forms of parental care unique in the animal kingdom. The two species of gastric-brooding frog (genus: ''Rheobatrachus''), are found in this family. The females of these species swallow their young, where they develop until metamorphosis. The pouched frog (''Assa darlingtoni'') has pouches on the sides of its body. The male will guard the eggs until hatching, and assist the tadpoles into its side, where they stay until metamorphosis. Another form of parental care, although not unique, is found in many species of the genus '' Limnody ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin ''creta'', "chalk", which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation ''Kreide''. The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now- extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was ice free, and forests extended to the poles. During this time, new groups of mammals and birds appeared. During the Early Cretaceous, flowering plants appeared and began to rapidly diversify, becoming the dominant group of plants across the Earth b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction Event
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction) was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the exception of some ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians, no tetrapods weighing more than survived. It marked the end of the Cretaceous Period, and with it the Mesozoic era, while heralding the beginning of the Cenozoic era, which continues to this day. In the geologic record, the K–Pg event is marked by a thin layer of sediment called the K–Pg boundary, which can be found throughout the world in marine and terrestrial rocks. The boundary clay shows unusually high levels of the metal iridium, which is more common in asteroids than in the Earth's crust. As originally proposed in 1980 by a team of scientists led by Luis Alvarez and his son Walter, it is now generally thought that the K–Pg extinction was cause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''palaiós'' meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch (which succeeds the Paleocene), translating to "the old part of the Eocene". The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history. The K–Pg extinction event, brought on by Chicxulub impact, an asteroid impact and possibly volcanism, marked the beginning of the Paleocene and killed off 75% of living species, most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. The end of the epoch was marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was a major climatic event wherein about 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean systems, causing a spike in global temperatures and ocean acidification. In the Pal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of . Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologically, where the term covers several slightly different, but related regions. Derivation and definitions Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French ''Australasie'') in ''Histoire des navigations aux terres australes'' (1756). He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the area from Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (Magellanica). In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand. Australasia found continued geopolitical attention in the earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limnodynastes Interioris
The giant banjo frog, giant pobblebonk frog, giant bullfrog, or great bullfrog (''Limnodynastes interioris'') is a species of frog, endemic to Australia, in the family Limnodynastidae. Fry was the first to recognise the species of Giant Banjo Frog (''Limnodynastes interioris)'' as a distinct subspecies of Banjo Frog (Genus: ''Limnodynastes)'', differing from the similar Southern or Eastern Banjo Frogs ( ''Limnodynastes dumerili'') which occupied most of eastern Australia. Description The Giant Banjo frog grows to an average length of between 7–9 cm. The skin on its back is mostly brown with irregular black markings and a bumpy texture while its underside is pale to bright yellow and smooth. Along the sides of the body, the colouring ranges from red-brown to fawn with black and grey flecks with a black stripe from its snout down to its sides. The iris is a dark specked gold and the pupil is horizontal. Front feet are unwebbed and back feet are semi-webbed with a large, sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
