''Alsodes'' is a genus of alsodid

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s found in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It is the most species-rich frog genus in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

. Common name spiny-chest frogs has been coined for them.Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 70

Description

Characteristic for this genus is that during the reproductive season, adult males have thorny structures on the fingers and rounded spiny patches on the chest. Breeding takes place in high-elevation streams, and

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s have slow development, including overwintering under ice cover.

Species

There are 19 species in the genus:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2600337 Alsodidae Amphibians of South America Amphibian genera Taxa named by Thomas Bell (zoologist)