''Oreophrynella'', commonly known as bush toads, is a genus of

true toads A true toad is any member of the family Bufonidae, in the order Anura (frogs and toads). This is the only family of anurans in which all members are known as toads, although some may be called frogs (such as harlequin frogs). The bufonids now ...

native to the

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

s of southern Venezuela and adjacent Guyana. The distribution of some species is restricted to a couple of tepuis or even a single tepui, as in the case of '' Oreophrynella weiassipuensis'', which occurs on Wei-Assipu-tepui.

Description

Species of the genus ''Oreophrynella'' are small frogs, less than in snout–vent length. They are characterized by opposable digits of the foot, dorsal skin that bears tubercules, and direct development (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). The presence of opposable digits, unique among bufonids, in combination with an extension of the interdigital integument and the relative length/orientation of the digits, is likely to be an adaptation to facilitate life on rocky

summits and an

exaptation Exaptation and the related term co-option describe a shift in the function of a trait during evolution. For example, a trait can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently it may come to serve another. Exaptations are common ...

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 ...

ity The genus also displays

cranial Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

simplification in the form of cranial fontanelles and absence of the quadratojugal, which may be driven by a reduction of developmental costs, increase in flexibility, and reduction of body weight. The cranial simplification combined with the shortening of the vertebral column and shift towards a partly firmisternal girdle may be adaptations to the peculiar tumbling behaviour displayed by ''Oreophrynella''.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Oreophrynella'':

References

External links

* taxo
''Oreophrynella''
at http://www.eol.org. * Taxo
''Oreophrynella''
at https://www.itis.gov/index.html. (Accessed: May 1, 2008). * Taxo
''Oreophrynella''
at http://data.gbif.org/welcome.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q134726 Amphibian genera Amphibians of South America Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger Amphibians of the Tepuis