Craugastoridae, commonly known as fleshbelly frogs, is a

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 ...

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

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. As delineated here, following the Amphibian Species of the World, it contains 129 species. They are found from the southern United States southwards to Central and South America.

Taxonomy

The taxon was created by

Stephen Blair Hedges Stephen Hedges Stephen Blair Hedges (known as S. Blair Hedges) is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science and director of the Center for Biodiversity at Temple University where he researches the tree of life and leads conservation efforts in Haiti ...

, William Edward Duellman and Matthew P. Heinicke in 2008. The taxonomy of these frogs is not yet settled, and other sources may treat the subfamily Strabomantinae as a family,

Strabomantidae The Strabomantidae are a family of frogs native to South America. These frogs lack a free-living larval stage and hatch directly into miniature "froglets". This family includes ''Pristimantis'', the most speciose genus of any vertebrate. System ...

, with correspondingly smaller Craugastoridae. The family was rearranged in 2014, and more recently in 2021.

Life history

With the possible exception of ''

Craugastor laticeps ''Craugastor laticeps'' (common name: broad-headed rainfrog, and many variations) is a species of frog in the family Craugastoridae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and southern Mexico. ''Craugastor laticeps'' occurs in leaf-litter ...

'' that may be

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

, craugastorid frogs have

direct development Marine larval ecology is the study of the factors influencing dispersing larvae, which many marine invertebrates and fishes have. Marine animals with a larva typically release many larvae into the water column, where the larvae develop before metam ...

: no free-living

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 ...

stage is known; instead, eggs develop directly into small froglets.

Genera

Two genera are recognised in the family Craugastoridae: * ''

Craugastor ''Craugastor'' is a large genus of frogs in the family Craugastoridae with 126 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 d ...

'' Cope, 1862 (126 species) * ''

Haddadus ''Haddadus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Craugastoridae. The genus has three species that are endemic to the Atlantic Forest of east and southeast Brazil. The genus is named for Célio F. B. Haddad, Brazilian herpetologist Herpetolo ...

'' Hedges, Duellman, and Heinicke, 2008 (three species)

Taxa formerly in Craugastoridae

The following two taxa were formerly placed in Craugastoridae, but are now ''incerta sedis'' within the superfamily

Brachycephaloidea Brachycephaloidea (terrarana) is a monophyletic group of frogs that includes the families: Brachycephalidae, Craugastoridae, Eleutherodactylidae, Ceuthomantidae, and Strabomantidae. The superfamily contains 882 species that inhabit the New Wor ...

, awaiting more data to resolve their position: * ''

Atopophrynus ''Atopophrynus'' is a genus of frogs. It is monotypic, being represented by a single species, ''Atopophrynus syntomopus'', also known as the Sonson frog. Its taxonomic placement within the superfamily Brachycephaloidea is uncertain, although ma ...

'' Lynch and Ruiz-Carranza, 1982 (

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

) * '' Geobatrachus'' Ruthven, 1915 (

)

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q110907310, from3=Q55463, from2=Q5938285 Amphibian families Taxa named by William Edward Duellman Taxa named by Stephen Blair Hedges