The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread

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 ...

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. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.

Evolution

A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. (2007) has estimated the initial internal divergence of the family Microhylidae to have taken place about 66 million years ago, or immediately after the Cretaceous extinction event. The

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

of the Microhylidae and their closest ranoid relatives is estimated to have lived 116 million years ago in

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

Description

As suggested by their name, microhylids are mostly small frogs. Many species are below in length, although some species are as large as . They can be

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...

or terrestrial, and some even live close to water. The ground-dwellers are often found under leaf litter within forests, occasionally venturing out at night to hunt. The two main shapes for the microhylids are wide bodies and narrow mouths and normal frog proportions. Those with narrow mouths generally eat

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...

s and

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s, and the others have diets typical of most frogs. Egg-laying habits are highly varied.

Reproduction

The microhylids of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

completely bypass 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 ...

stage, with direct development from

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

to frog. The arboreal species can therefore lay the eggs within the trees, and never need venture to the ground. Where species do have tadpoles, these almost always lack the teeth or horny beaks typical of the tadpoles of other families.

Anatomy

The skull has paired

palatines Palatines (german: Pfälzer), also known as the Palatine Dutch, are the people and princes of Palatinates ( Holy Roman principalities) of the Holy Roman Empire. The Palatine diaspora includes the Pennsylvania Dutch and New York Dutch. In 1709 ...

and frontoparietals. The facial nerve passes through the anterior acoustic foramen in the auditory capsule; the trigeminal and facial nerve ganglia are fused to form a prootic ganglion. The eight (or seven) presacral holochordal vertebrae are all procoelous except for a biconcave surface on last presacral. The pectoral girdle is firmisternal and some show reduced clavicle and procoracoids. The terminal phalanges are blunt, pointed, or T-shaped. The tadpole lacks keratinized mouth parts and has a large spiracular chamber emptied by a caudomedial spiracle.

Taxonomy

* subfamily Adelastinae Peloso, Frost, Richards, Rodrigues, Donnellan, Matsui, Raxworthy, Biju, Lemmon, Lemmon, & Wheeler, 2015 ** genus '' Adelastes'' Zweifel, 1986 * subfamily

Asterophryinae Asterophryinae is a subfamily of microhylid frogs distributed in an area from the Peninsular Malaysia through the Malay Archipelago to northern Australia. Genera The following genera are recognised in the subfamily Asterophryinae: The most sp ...

Günther, 1858 ** genus ''

Aphantophryne ''Aphantophryne'' is a genus of microhylid frogs found in New Guinea and in Mindanao, the Philippines. Originally described by Fry in 1917, Richard G. Zweifel considered in 1956 ''Aphantophryne'' synonymous to ''Cophixalus''. The genus was resu ...

'' Fry, 1917 ** genus '' Asterophrys'' Tschudi, 1838 ** genus ''

Austrochaperina ''Austrochaperina'' is a genus of microhylid frogs found on New Guinea, New Britain and Australia. Taxonomy The genus was removed from the synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another w ...

'' Fry, 1912 ** genus ''

Barygenys ''Barygenys'' is a genus of microhylid frogs. They are endemic to New Guinea and the adjacent Louisiade Archipelago. So far only known from Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gi ...

'' Parker, 1936 ** genus ''

Callulops ''Callulops'' is a genus of microhylid frogs from Sulawesi as well as the New Guinea region, from Talaud Islands and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas) in the northwest to the Louisiade Archipelago The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten ...

'' Boulenger, 1888 ** genus ''

Choerophryne ''Choerophryne'' is a genus of microhylid frogs, commonly known as Torricelli mountain frogs, endemic to New Guinea. These frogs are small, with the body length measured from snout to vent between 11 and 23 mm. Taxonomy and systematics The ...

'' Van Kampen, 1914 ** genus ''

Cophixalus ''Cophixalus'' (rainforest frogs or nursery frogs) is a genus of microhylid frogs. These are arboreal species with expanded toe-pads, endemic to Moluccan Islands, New Guinea and northeastern Queensland, Australia. Species As of December 2019, ...

'' Boettger, 1892 ** genus '' Copiula'' Méhely, 1901 ** genus ''

Gastrophrynoides ''Gastrophrynoides'' is a small genus of microhylid frogs. There are two species known from the Malay Peninsula and Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic ce ...

'' Noble, 1926 ** genus '' Hylophorbus'' Macleay, 1878 ** genus ''

Mantophryne ''Mantophryne'' is a genus of microhylid frogs. The genus is found in New Guinea, Louisiade Archipelago, and Woodlark Island Woodlark Island, known to its inhabitants simply as Woodlark or Muyua, is the main island of the Woodlark Islands arc ...

'' Boulenger, 1897 ** genus '' Oninia'' Günther, Stelbrink & von Rintelen, 2010 ** genus '' Oreophryne'' Boettger, 1895 ** genus '' Paedophryne'' Kraus, 2010 ** genus ''

Siamophryne ''Siamophryne'' is a genus of frog found in Thailand. It is monotypic, consisting of only one species, the Tenasserim cave frog (''Siamophryne troglodytes''). Its closest relative is the genus ''Vietnamophryne''. The genus ''Siamophryne'' was f ...

'' Suwannapoom, Sumontha, Tunprasert, Ruangsuwan, Pawangkhanant, Korost, and Poyarkov, 2018 ** genus '' Sphenophryne'' Peters & Doria, 1878 ** genus ''

Vietnamophryne ''Vietnamophryne'' (common name: Indochinese dwarf frogs; Vietnamese: ''nhái lùn''; Thai: ''ueng tham khrae'', ) is a divergent genus of Asterophryinae frogs found in Indochina. Its closest relative is the genus '' Siamophryne''. The genus ''V ...

'' Poyarkov, Suwannapoom, Pawangkhanant, Aksornneam, Duong, Korost and Che, 2018 ** genus '' Xenorhina'' Peters, 1863 * subfamily Chaperininae Peloso, Frost, Richards, Rodrigues, Donnellan, Matsui, Raxworthy, Biju, Lemmon, Lemmon, & Wheeler, 2015 ** genus '' Chaperina'' Mocquard, 1892 * subfamily

Cophylinae Cophylinae is a subfamily of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. It has over 100 species in eight genera. Members of this subfamily range from minute ( 100 mm adult body size), and they are highly ecologically diverse. DNA barcode res ...

Cope, 1889 ** genus ''

Anilany ''Anilany helenae'' is a species of frog in the microyhlid subfamily Cophylinae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Anilany'', and is endemic to central Madagascar. Taxonomy This species was originally described by Denis Vallan in ...

'' Scherz, Vences, Rakotoarison, Andreone, Köhler, Glaw, and Crottini, 2016 ** genus ''

Anodonthyla ''Anodonthyla'' is a genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. Molecular data suggest that it is the sister taxon to all other species in the subfamily Cophylinae Cophylinae is a subfamily of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. I ...

'' Müller, 1892 ** genus ''

Cophyla ''Cophyla'' is a genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island cou ...

'' Boettger, 1880 ** genus ''

Madecassophryne ''Madecassophryne'' is a monotypic genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It is represented by the single species, ''Madecassophryne truebae''. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland fore ...

'' Guibé, 1974 ** genus ''

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

'' Scherz, Hutter, Rakotoarison, Riemann, Rödel, Ndriantsoa, Glos, Roberts, Crottini, Vences & Glaw, 2019 ** genus ''

Plethodontohyla ''Plethodontohyla'' is a genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. Species There are at present 11 species: * '' Plethodontohyla alluaudi'' (Mocquard, 1901) * '' Plethodontohyla bipunctata'' (Guibé, 1974) * '' Plethodontohyla brevipes'' ...

'' Boulenger, 1882 ** genus ''

Rhombophryne ''Rhombophryne'' is a genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. It is currently estimated to include more than 23 species, but only 20 of these are currently described. The common name 'diamond frog' has been proposed and used for members ...

'' Boettger, 1880 ** genus '' Stumpffia'' Botteger, 1881 * subfamily

Dyscophinae Tomato frogs are any of the three species of genus ''Dyscophus'' (family Microhylidae): ''D. antongilii'', ''D. insularis'', or ''D. guineti''. ''Dyscophus'' is the only genus in subfamily Dyscophinae. They are endemic to Madagascar. The common ...

Boulenger, 1882 ** genus '' Dyscophus'' Grandidier, 1872 * subfamily Gastrophryninae Fitzinger, 1843 ** genus '' Arcovomer'' Carvalho, 1954 ** genus '' Chiasmocleis'' Méhely, 1904 ** genus '' Ctenophryne'' Mocquard, 1904 ** genus '' Dasypops'' Miranda-Ribeiro, 1924 ** genus '' Dermatonotus'' Méhely, 1904 ** genus '' Elachistocleis'' Parker, 1927 ** genus ''

Gastrophryne ''Gastrophryne'', the narrowmouth toads (also American narrowmouth toads, North American narrow-mouthed toads), is a genus of microhylid frogs found in the Americas between Honduras and southern United States. Its name means ‘belly-toad’, r ...

'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** genus '' Hamptophryne'' Carvalho, 1954 ** genus ''

Hypopachus ''Hypopachus'' is a genus of microhylid 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 ...

'' Keferstein, 1867 ** genus '' Myersiella'' Carvalho, 1954 ** genus '' Stereocyclops'' Cope, 1870 * subfamily Hoplophryninae Noble, 1931 ** genus ''

Hoplophryne ''Hoplophryne'' is a genus of microhylid frogs. The genus is endemic to mountain forests of Tanzania. They are also known as three-fingered frogs or African banana frogs (not to be confused with ''Afrixalus'', another African genus known as "ban ...

'' Barbour & Loveridge, 1928 ** genus ''

Parhoplophryne ''Parhoplophryne'' is a monotypic frog genus in the family Microhylidae. The sole species is ''Parhoplophryne usambarica'', sometimes known as the Usambara black-banded frog or Amani forest frog. It is endemic to the East Usambara Mountains in T ...

'' Barbour & Loveridge, 1928 * subfamily Kalophryninae Mivart, 1869 ** genus '' Kalophrynus'' Tschudi, 1838 * subfamily

Melanobatrachinae ''Melanobatrachus'' is a genus of narrow-mouthed frogs in the family Microhylidae. It is the only remaining genus in the monotypic subfamily Melanobatrachinae. It contains a single species, ''Melanobatrachus indicus'', also known as the India ...

Noble, 1931 ** genus ''

Melanobatrachus ''Melanobatrachus'' is a genus of Microhylidae, narrow-mouthed frogs in the family Microhylidae. It is the only remaining genus in the monotypic subfamily Melanobatrachinae. It contains a single species, ''Melanobatrachus indicus'', also known ...

'' Beddome, 1878 * subfamily

Microhylinae The Microhylinae are a subfamily of microhylid frogs. It contains 9 genera. Phylogenetic studies have estimated the family Microhylidae to be about 52 million years old. Genera The following genera are recognised in the subfamily Microhylinae: ...

Günther, 1858 ** genus ''

Glyphoglossus ''Glyphoglossus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. The genus occurs in Southeastern Asia. Common name balloon frogs has been coined for it, whereas the common name squat frogs refers to the ''Calluella'' species that are now includ ...

'' Gunther, 1869 "1868" ** genus ''

Kaloula ''Kaloula'' is a genus of microhylid frogs found in southern and eastern Asia. They are sometimes known as the Asian narrowmouth toads. Species The genus currently has at least 19 species. Some sources also recognize ''Kaloula macrocephala'' Bo ...

'' Gray, 1831 ** genus ''

Metaphrynella ''Metaphrynella'' is a small genus of microhylid frogs from the southern Malay Peninsula and Borneo. They are sometimes known as the Borneo treefrogs or tree hole frogs. The common name refers to the microhabitat of these frogs: males call from ...

'' Parker, 1934 ** genus ''

Microhyla ''Microhyla'', commonly known as the rice frogs or narrow-mouthed frogs, is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. It consists of 42 species of diminutive frogs. Members of this genus are widespread from Ryukyu Is. in Japan, and throughout ...

'' Tschudi, 1838 ** genus ''

Micryletta ''Micryletta'' is a genus of microhylid 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 tai ...

'' Dubois, 1987 ** genus ''

Mysticellus Franky's narrow-mouthed frog (''Mysticellus franki'') is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Mysticellus'', the mysterious narrow-mouthed frogs. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of Indi ...

'' Sonali & Biju, 2019 **genus ''

Nanohyla ''Nanohyla'' is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae. Members of the genus are known as pygmy narrow-mouthed frogs. The members of the genus are found throughout Southeast Asia in the countries of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malays ...

'' ** genus '' Phrynella'' Boulenger, 1887 ** genus ''

Uperodon ''Uperodon'' is a genus of microhylid frogs. They occur in South Asia (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh) and Myanmar. ''Uperodon'' reached its current composition in 2016 when the genus Ramanella was brought into its sy ...

'' Duméril & Bibron, 1841 * subfamily Otophryninae Wassersug & Pyburn, 1987 ** genus '' Otophryne'' Boulenger, 1900 ** genus '' Synapturanus'' Carvalho, 1954 * subfamily Phrynomerinae Noble, 1931 ** genus ''

Phrynomantis ''Phrynomantis'' is a genus of frog in the family Microhylidae. They are also known as rubber frogs, red-marked frogs, red-marked short-headed frogs, and snake-necked frogs. The genus is found in Subsaharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, ...

'' Peters, 1867 * subfamily

Scaphiophryninae The Scaphiophryninae are a subfamily of microhylid frogs native to Madagascar. Description Scaphiophryninae are small to middle-sized frogs, measuring in snout–vent length. They are terrestrial. Species living in drier environments are burr ...

Laurent, 1946 ** genus ''

Paradoxophyla ''Paradoxophyla'' is a small genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an ...

'' Blommers-Schlösser & Blanc, 1991 ** genus ''

Scaphiophryne ''Scaphiophryne'' is a genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. Some of the species are strikingly marked, while others are highly cryptic. They are rather plump and generally found on the ground. Several species in the genus are threate ...

'' Boulenger, 1882

Range

Frogs from the Microhylidae occur throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of North America, South America, Africa, eastern India,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, and Australia. Although most are found in tropical or subtropical regions, a few species can be found in arid or nontropical areas. They are the majority of frog species in New Guinea and

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 ...

. The ranges of each subfamily are:De Sá, R. O., Streicher, J. W., Sekonyela, R., Forlani, M. C., Loader, S. P., Greenbaum, E., … Haddad, C. F. B. (2012). Molecular phylogeny of microhylid frogs (Anura: Microhylidae) with emphasis on relationships among New World genera. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 12, 241. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-12-241 * Hoplophryninae:

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

* Phrynomerinae:

* Kalophryninae:

* Otophyninae:

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

* Gastrophryninae:

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 ...

* Chaperininae:

* Adelastinae:

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q56057 Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by Albert Günther Amphibian families