''Amolops'' (commonly known as cascade frogs or sucker frogs) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of true frogs (

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Ranidae) native mainly to eastern and south-eastern Asia. These frogs are closely related to such genera as '' Huia'', ''

Meristogenys ''Meristogenys'' is a genus of true frogs from Borneo. Its tadpoles are adapted to fast-flowing mountain streams and easily recognizable by their divided upper lip with ribs on the outside.Stuart (2008) Taxonomy and systematics Its closest livin ...

'', ''

Odorrana ''Odorrana'' (commonly known as the odorous frog) is a genus of true frogs (Ranidae) from East Asia and surrounding regions. Many of these frogs inhabit fast-flowing mountain streams, and they typically have a remarkably pointed snout, as evidenc ...

'', ''

Pelophylax ''Pelophylax'' is a genus of true frogs widespread in Eurasia, with a few species ranging into northern Africa. This genus was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843 to accommodate the green frogs of the Old World, which he considered distinct fro ...

'' and ''

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

'', but still form a distinct lineage among the core

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

of true frogs.Cai ''et al.'' (2007), Stuart (2008) They are commonly known as "

torrent frog Torrent frogs are a number of unrelated frogs that prefer to inhabit small rapid-flowing mountain or hill streams with a lot of torrents. They are generally smallish neobatrachians with a greyish-brown and usually darkly mottled back, giving them e ...

s" after their favorite

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

- small rapid-flowing mountain and hill streams - but this name is used for many similar-looking frogs regardless of whether they are loosely related. Several

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

are highly convergent with other Ranidae "torrent frogs". '' A. archotaphus'' and its relatives for example very much resemble ''

Odorrana livida ''Odorrana livida'', also known as the green mountain frog, green cascade frog, Tenasserim frog, bright frog, large odorous frog, or large-eared rock frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is known with certainty only from its neot ...

''. In another incidence of convergent evolution yielding

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

to habitat, the

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 of ''Amolops'', ''Huia'', ''Meristogenys'' as well as ''

Rana sauteri ''Rana sauteri'' is a species of true frog endemic to Taiwan. It inhabits low-altitude hill forests and the associated streams. It is an endangered species threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and infrastructure development. Common nam ...

'' have a raised and usually well-developed sucker on their belly. This is useful in keeping in place in rocky torrents, where these frogs grow up. But as ''Odorrana'' and '' Staurois'' from comparable

prove, this sucker is by no means a necessity and other means of adaptation to torrent habitat exist.Stuart (2008)

Species

The delimitation of this genus has proven complicated, with many

believed to belong elsewhere. Due to the degree of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

studies are very helpful in assigning species to the genera, though the possibility of past

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

ization cannot be discounted in Ranidae. New species are described on a regular basis. At least one undescribed species is known to exist, a very distinct form from

Phetchaburi Phetchaburi ( th, เพชรบุรี, ) or Phet Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phetchaburi Province. In Thai, Phetchaburi means "city of diamonds" (''buri'' meaning "city" in Sanskrit). It is approx ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

that is possibly closer to '' A. marmoratus'' than to most others.Cai ''et al.'' (2007) * '' Amolops afghanus'' (Günther, 1858) * ''

Amolops akhaorum ''Amolops akhaorum'' is a species of true frogs (family Ranidae) discovered in 2007 in the Nam Ha National Protected Area, north-western Laos. It is still only known from its type locality. The specific name ''akhaorum'' refers to the local Ak ...

'' Stuart, Bain, Phimmachak, and Spence, 2010 * ''

Amolops albispinus ''Amolops'' (commonly known as cascade frogs or sucker frogs) is a genus of true frogs (family Ranidae) native mainly to eastern and south-eastern Asia. These frogs are closely related to such genera as '' Huia'', ''Meristogenys'', ''Odorrana ...

'' Sung, Hu, Wang, Liu, and Wang, 2016 * '' Amolops aniqiaoensis'' Dong, Rao, and Lü, 2005 * ''

Amolops archotaphus ''Amolops archotaphus'', also known as the Doi Inthanon rock frog (Doi Inthanon mountain being its type locality), is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to Chiang Mai Province in northwestern Thailand, although its range mi ...

'' (Inger and Chan-ard, 1997) * '' Amolops assamensis'' Sengupta ''et al''., 2008 * '' Amolops australis'' Chan, Abraham, Grismer, and Grismer, 2018 * '' Amolops bellulus'' Liu, Yang, Ferraris, and Matsui, 2000 * '' Amolops caelumnoctis'' Rao and Wilkinson, 2007 * '' Amolops chakrataensis'' Ray, 1992 * '' Amolops chayuensis'' Sun, Luo, Sun, and Zhang, 2013 * ''

Amolops chunganensis ''Amolops chunganensis'' (common names: Chungan sucker frog, Chungan torrent frog) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. Its type locality, Kuatun village (Guadun in modern spelling) in Wuyishan, Fujian. It is endemic to central, southe ...

'' (Pope, 1929) * '' Amolops compotrix'' (Bain, Stuart, and Orlov, 2006) * '' Amolops cremnobatus'' Inger and Kottelat, 1998 * '' Amolops cucae'' (Bain, Stuart, and Orlov, 2006) * '' Amolops daiyunensis'' (Liu & Hu, 1975) * '' Amolops daorum'' (Bain, Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov, and Ho, 2003) * ''

Amolops formosus ''Amolops formosus'', also known as Assam sucker frog, beautiful stream frog, Assam cascade frog, or hill stream frog, is a species of frog found in high gradient streams of northern India, northern Bangladesh, and Nepal, possibly also Bhutan, al ...

'' (Günther, 1876) * ''

Amolops gerbillus ''Amolops gerbillus'' is a species of frog found in Asia. It is native to northern and northeastern India, Tibet (China), and Myanmar, and possibly to Bhutan and Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Repu ...

'' (Annandale, 1912) * '' Amolops gerutu'' Chan, Abraham, Grismer, and Grismer, 2018 * '' Amolops granulosus'' (Liu and Hu, 1961) * ''

Amolops hainanensis ''Amolops hainanensis'' is a species of frog in the family Ranidae that is endemic to southwestern and central Hainan, China. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss ...

'' (Boulenger, 1900) * '' Amolops himalayanus'' (Boulenger, 1888) * '' Amolops hongkongensis'' (Pope and Romer, 1951) –

Hong Kong Cascade Frog Hong Kong cascade frog or Hong Kong torrent frog (''Amolops hongkongensis'') is a species of true frog from southern coastal China, once thought to be endemic to Hong Kong. Their eggs are laid on rock faces in the splash zones of cascades. In Hong ...

* '' Amolops indoburmanensis'' Dever, Fuiten, Konu, and Wilkinson, 2012 * '' Amolops iriodes'' (Bain and Nguyen, 2004) * '' Amolops jaunsari'' Ray, 1992 * '' Amolops jinjiangensis'' Su, Yang, and Li, 1986 * '' Amolops kaulbacki'' (Smith, 1940) * '' Amolops kohimaensis'' Biju, Mahony, and Kamei, 2010 * ''

Amolops larutensis ''Amolops larutensis'' (common names: Larut sucker frog, Larut Hill cascade frog, southern pad-discked frog) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae that is found in the Malay Peninsula from southernmost Thailand to Malaysia; records further ...

'' (Boulenger, 1899) * '' Amolops lifanensis'' (Liu, 1945) * '' Amolops loloensis'' (Liu, 1950) * '' Amolops longimanus'' (Andersson, 1939) * '' Amolops mantzorum'' (David, 1872) * ''

Amolops marmoratus ''Amolops marmoratus'' is a species of ranid frog found in Asia. Its common names include marbled sucker frog, marbled cascade frog, Pegu torrent frog, and many others. The taxonomic status of many populations formerly assigned to this species is ...

'' (Blyth, 1855) * '' Amolops medogensis'' Li and Rao, 2005 * '' Amolops mengdingensis'' Yu, Wu, and Yang, 2019 * ''

Amolops mengyangensis ''Amolops mengyangensis'' is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is known with certainty only from its type locality, the eponymous Mengyang in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southern Yunnan province of China. However, if '' A ...

'' Wu and Tian, 1995 * '' Amolops minutus'' Orlov and Ho, 2007 * '' Amolops monticola'' (Anderson, 1871) * '' Amolops nidorbellus'' Biju, Mahony, and Kamei, 2010 * '' Amolops nyingchiensis'' Jiang, Wang, Xie, Jiang, and Che, 2016 * '' Amolops ottorum'' Pham, Sung, Pham, Le, Ziegler, and Nguyen, 2019 * '' Amolops pallasitatus'' Qi, Zhou, Lyu, Lu, and Li, 2019 * ''

Amolops panhai ''Amolops panhai'', commonly known as the peninsular torrentfrog, is a species of true frog that can be found in western and peninsular Thailand and in eastern Myanmar. It is associated with streams and waterfalls in moist lowland forests. Its ...

'' Matsui & Nabhitabhata, 2006 * '' Amolops ricketti'' (Boulenger, 1899) * '' Amolops shuichengicus'' Lyu and Wang, 2019 * '' Amolops sinensis'' Lyu, Wang, and Wang, 2019 * '' Amolops spinapectoralis'' Inger, Orlov, and Darevsky, 1999 * '' Amolops splendissimus'' Orlov and Ho, 2007 * '' Amolops torrentis'' (Smith, 1923) * '' Amolops tuberodepressus'' Liu and Yang, 2000 * '' Amolops viridimaculatus'' (Jiang, 1983) * '' Amolops vitreus'' (Bain, Stuart, and Orlov, 2006) * '' Amolops wenshanensis'' Yuan, Jin, Li, Stuart, and Wu, 2018 * '' Amolops wuyiensis'' (Liu and Hu, 1975) * ''

Amolops xinduqiao ''Amolops'' (commonly known as cascade frogs or sucker frogs) is a genus of true frogs (family (biology), family Ranidae) native mainly to eastern and south-eastern Asia. These frogs are closely related to such genera as ''Huia (frog), Huia'', ...

'' Fei, Ye, Wang, and Jiang, 2017 * '' Amolops yatseni'' Lyu, Wang, and Wang, 2019 * '' Amolops yunkaiensis'' Lyu, Wang, Liu, Zeng, and Wang, 2018

Footnotes

References

* (2007): Paraphyly of Chinese ''Amolops'' (Anura, Ranidae) and phylogenetic position of the rare Chinese frog, ''Amolops tormotus''. ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week. ...

'' 1531: 49–55
PDF abstract and first page text
* (2008): The phylogenetic problem of ''Huia'' (Amphibia: Ranidae). '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 46(1): 49–60. (HTMl abstract) Amphibian genera Frogs of Asia Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope {{Ranidae-stub