''Boophis'' is the only

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 ...

in the mantellid

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 ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

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 s ...

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 commonly ...

, 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 Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loc ...

(

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Boophis'' was described by

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

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

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 ...

, 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 a ...

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 The white-lipped bright-eyed frog (''Boophis albilabris'') is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane ...

'' (Boulenger, 1888) * '' Boophis albipunctatus'' Glaw & Thiesmeier, 1993 * ''

Boophis andohahela ''Boophis andohahela'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar, officially known only from Andohahela National Park and unofficially from Ranomafana National Park. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropi ...

'' Andreone, Nincheri & Piazza, 1995 * ''

Boophis andrangoloaka ''Boophis andrangoloaka'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: Républiq ...

'' (Ahl, 1928) * ''

Boophis andreonei ''Boophis andreonei'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (als ...

'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * ''

Boophis anjanaharibeensis ''Boophis anjanaharibeensis'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar, officially known only from w:fr:Réserve Spéciale d’Anjanaharibe-Sud and unofficially from other areas including Marojejy National Par ...

'' Andreone, 1996 * ''

Boophis ankarafensis ''Boophis ankarafensis'' also known as Ankarafa skeleton frog is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar's northwestern coast where it is only known from Ankarafa Forest, a forest fragment in the Sahamalaza-Iles R ...

'' Penny, Andreone, Crottini, Holderied, Rakotozafy, Schwitzer & Rosa, 2014 * ''

Boophis ankaratra ''Boophis ankaratra'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, rivers, pastureland, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forest. It ...

'' Andreone, 1993 * ''

Boophis arcanus ''Boophis arcanus'' is a species of frogs in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. This species does not show sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhib ...

'' Glaw, Köhler, de la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 * '' Boophis axelmeyeri'' Vences, Andreone & Veities, 2005 * '' Boophis baetkei'' Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2008 * ''

Boophis blommersae ''Boophis blommersae'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to northern Madagascar and is known from two locations, Montagne d'Ambre and the vicinity of Tsaratanana. There is also a recent from near Bemanevika. The speci ...

'' Glaw & Vences, 1994 * '' Boophis boehmei'' Glaw & Vences, 1992 * '' Boophis boppa'' Hutter & Lambert, 2015 * '' Boophis bottae'' Vences & Glaw, 2002 * ''

Boophis brachychir ''Boophis brachychir'' is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mo ...

'' 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 ''Boophis entingae'' is a species of skeleton frog endemic to northern Madagascar. Taxonomy ''Boophis entingae'' is one of many skeleton frogs and is in the '' B. goudoti'' group. The specific name ''entingae'' is named after Hildegard Enti ...

'' 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 ''Boophis goudotii'' (common name: Goudot's bright-eyed frog) is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar where it is widespread on the high plateau of central Madagascar. Records elsewhere are uncertain and many ...

'' 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 ''Boophis'' is the only genus in the Mantellidae, mantellid frog 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 with morphologi ...

'' 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