The Alytidae are 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 ...

of primitive frogs. Their common name is painted frogs or midwife toads. Most are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, but three species occur in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct is found in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. This family is also known as Discoglossidae, but the older name Alytidae has priority and is now recognized by major reference works. Some researchers, though, suggest that '' Alytes'' and ''

Discoglossus ''Discoglossus'' (common name: painted frogs) is a genus of frogs in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae) found in southern Europe and northwestern Africa. Species Six species are placed in this genus. The Hula painted frog The Hula ...

'' are different enough to be treated as belonging to separate families, implying resurrection of the Discoglossidae. The term "discoglossid" has also been used to refer to many primitive fossil frogs that share

plesiomorphic In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, and ...

(ancestral) similities to alytids, but that are probably not closely related.

Genera and species

The family contains three

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genera, '' Alytes'', ''

'', and '' Latonia''. The first is somewhat toad-like and can often be found on land. The second is smoother and more frog-like, preferring the water. The third genus was until recently considered extinct, and is represented by the recently rediscovered

Hula painted frog The Hula painted frog (''Latonia nigriventer'') is an amphibian and the only living member of the genus '' Latonia,'' which was originally described from several fossil species from the Oligocene to Early Pleistocene of Europe. The Hula painte ...

. All of the species have pond-dwelling

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. The genera ''

Bombina fire-bellied toads are a group of six species of small frogs (most species typically no longer than ) belonging to the genus ''Bombina''. The name "fire-bellied" is derived from the brightly colored red- or yellow-and-black patterns on the toa ...

'' and '' Barbourula'' also used to be under this family, but have now been moved to the Bombinatoridae.

Extant genera

Extinct genera

Family Alytidae * Genus †''

Enneabatrachus ''Enneabatrachus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs known from the late Jurassic Morrison Formation.Foster, J. (2007). "''Enneabatrachus hechti''" ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World''. Indiana Univers ...

'' (

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

) ** †''Enneabatrachus hechti'' * Genus †'' Aralobatrachus'' (prehistoric) ** †''Aralobatrachus robustus'' * Genus †''

Callobatrachus ''Callobatrachus'' is an extinct genus of frog from the Early Cretaceous-age Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. It was described in 1999 by K. Gao of the American Museum of Natural History and Y. Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was ...

'' (prehistoric) ** †''Callobatrachus sanyanensis'' * Genus †'' Bakonybatrachus'' (prehistoric) ** †''Bakonybatrachus fedori'' * Genus †''

Eodiscoglossus ''Eodiscoglossus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs. It is known from the type species ''E. santonjae'' from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) El Castellar Formation of Spain, as well as a referred species ''E. oxoniensis'' known from the ...

'' (prehistoric) ** †''Eodiscoglossus oxoniensis'' ** †''Eodiscoglossus santonjae'' File:Benny Trapp Alytes cisternasii.jpg, Iberian midwife toad (''

Alytes cisternasii The Iberian midwife toad or brown midwife toad (''Alytes cisternasii''), in Portuguese ''sapo-parteiro-ibérico'', is a species of frog in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae) found in Portugal and western Spain. It is typically found in ...

'') File:Discoglossus galganoi rechts.jpg, Iberian or Portuguese painted frog (''Discoglossus galganoi'') File:Latonia seyfriedi 001.jpg, Fossil discoglossid from Miocene (†''Latonia seyfriedi'')

References

* *

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4747664 Archaeobatrachia * Extant Late Jurassic first appearances Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger Amphibian families Palearctic realm biota