''Boophis'' is the only

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

in the mantellid

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

subfamily Boophinae. They are commonly known as bright-eyed or skeleton frogs. They show typical 'tree frog' traits, and are a good example 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 ...

with morphologically similar species in the families

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 semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

and

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are co ...

, among others. This genus can only be found on

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and Mayotte Island ( Comoros).

Taxonomy

The genus ''Boophis'' was described by

Johann Jakob von Tschudi Johann Jakob von Tschudi (25 July 1818 – 8 October 1889) was a Swiss naturalist, explorer and diplomat. Biography Tschudi was born in Glarus to Johann Jakob Tschudi, a merchant, and Anna Maria Zwicky. He studied natural sciences and medicin ...

in 1838. It was originally considered a member of the African-Asian

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

, but was moved to the family

Mantellidae The Mantellidae are a family of the order Anura. These frogs are endemic to the islands of Madagascar and Mayotte. Systematics The family Mantellidae is composed of three extremely ecologically diverse groups of frogs, divided into three sub ...

in 2001, into its own subfamily, Boophinae Vences & Glaw, 2001.

Morphology

''Boophis'' are arboreal frogs, exhibiting many traits that define 'tree frogs', such as expanded toe discs, long hindlimbs, and large eyes. ''Boophis'' are especially characterised by bright colouration of the iris, which is typically intricately patterned towards its inside, and often green or blue, but occasionally also red, purple, or yellow in the outer iris area. This has led to the vernacular name of bright-eyed frogs for the genus. Many

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 ...

of ''Boophis'' have almost

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...

skin, allowing bones and internal organs to be observed as in the unrelated

glass frog The glass frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae ( order Anura). While the general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent and translucent ...

s (Centrolenidae) of the tropical

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. This has led to the vernacular name skeleton frogs for some members of the genus.

Species

The genus has presently nearly 80

; new ones are being described every few months on average. This list may not be exhaustive. Boophis occidentalis03

* '' Boophis albilabris'' (Boulenger, 1888) * '' Boophis albipunctatus'' Glaw & Thiesmeier, 1993 * '' Boophis andohahela'' Andreone, Nincheri & Piazza, 1995 * '' Boophis andrangoloaka'' (Ahl, 1928) * '' Boophis andreonei'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis anjanaharibeensis'' Andreone, 1996 * '' Boophis ankarafensis'' Penny, Andreone, Crottini, Holderied, Rakotozafy, Schwitzer & Rosa, 2014 * '' Boophis ankaratra'' Andreone, 1993 * '' Boophis arcanus'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis axelmeyeri'' Vences, Andreone & Veities, 2005 * '' Boophis baetkei'' Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2008 * '' Boophis blommersae'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis boehmei'' Glaw & Vences, 1992 * '' Boophis boppa'' Hutter & Lambert, 2015 * '' Boophis bottae'' Vences & Glaw, 2002 * '' Boophis brachychir'' Boettger, 1882 * '' Boophis burgeri'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis calcaratus'' Vallan, Vences & Glaw, 2010 * '' Boophis doulioti'' Angel, 1934 * '' Boophis elenae'' Andreone, 1993 * '' Boophis englaenderi'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis entingae'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis erythrodactylus'' (Guibé, 1953) * '' Boophis fayi'' Köhler, Glaw, Rosa, Gehring, Pabijan, Andreone & Vences, 2011 * '' Boophis feonnyala'' Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 * '' Boophis goudotii'' Tschudi, 1838 * '' Boophis guibei'' (McCarthy, 1978) * '' Boophis haematopus'' Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 * '' Boophis haingana'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis idae'' (Steindachner, 1867) * '' Boophis jaegeri'' Glaw & Vences, 1992 – Green Skeleton Frog * '' Boophis laurenti'' Guibé, 1947 * '' Boophis liami'' Vallan, Vences & Glaw, 2003 * '' Boophis lichenoides'' Vallan, Glaw, Andreone & Cadle, 1998 * '' Boophis lilianae'' Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2008 * '' Boophis luciae'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis luteus'' (Boulenger, 1882) * '' Boophis madagascariensis'' (Peters, 1874) * '' Boophis majori'' (Boulenger, 1896) * '' Boophis mandraka'' Blommers-Schlösser, 1979 * '' Boophis marojezensis'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis masoala'' Glaw, Scherz, Prötzel & Vences, 2018 * '' Boophis miadana'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis microtympanum'' (Boettger, 1881) * '' Boophis miniatus'' (Mocquard, 1902) * '' Boophis narinsi'' Vences, Gehara, Köhler & Glaw, 2012 * '' Boophis nauticus'' Glaw, Hawlitschek, Glaw, and Vences, 2019 * '' Boophis obscurus'' (Boettger, 1913) * '' Boophis occidentalis'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis opisthodon'' (Boulenger, 1888) * '' Boophis pauliani'' (Guibé, 1953) * '' Boophis periegetes'' Cadle, 1995 * '' Boophis picturatus'' Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 * '' Boophis piperatus'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis popi'' Köhler, Glaw, Rosa, Gehring, Pabijan, Andreone & Vences, 2011 * '' Boophis praedictus'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis pyrrhus'' Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 * '' Boophis quasiboehmei'' Vences, Köhler, Crottini & Glaw, 2010 * '' Boophis rappiodes'' (Ahl, 1928) * '' Boophis reticulatus'' Blommers-Schlösser, 1979 * '' Boophis rhodoscelis'' (Boulenger, 1882) * '' Boophis roseipalmatus'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis rufioculis'' Glaw & Vences, 1997 * '' Boophis sambirano'' Vences & Glaw, 2005 * '' Boophis sandrae'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis schuboeae'' Glaw & Vences, 2002 * '' Boophis septentrionalis'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis sibilans'' Glaw & Thiesmeier, 1993 * '' Boophis solomaso'' Vallan, Vences & Glaw, 2003 * '' Boophis spinophis'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis tampoka'' Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2007 * '' Boophis tasymena'' Vences & Glaw, 2002 * '' Boophis tephraeomystax'' (Duméril, 1853) * '' Boophis tsilomaro'' Vences, Andreone, Glos & Glaw, 2010 * '' Boophis ulftunni'' Wollenberg, Andreone, Glaw & Vences, 2008 * '' Boophis viridis'' Blommers-Schlösser, 1979 * '' Boophis vittatus'' Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 * '' Boophis williamsi'' (Guibé, 1974) * '' Boophis xerophilus'' Glaw & Vences, 1997

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2322420 Amphibians of Sub-Saharan Africa Endemic fauna of Madagascar Amphibian genera Fauna of Mayotte Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi Taxonomy articles created by Polbot