''Stefania'' is a genus of

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 in the family

Hemiphractidae The Hemiphractidae are a family (biology), family of frogs from South America, South and Central America. Previously, this group had been classified as a subfamily (Hemiphractinae) under family Hylidae. More recent research classifies these gen ...

. They are native to the highlands of the

Guiana Shield The Guiana Shield (french: Plateau des Guyanes, Bouclier guyanais; nl, Hoogland van Guyana, Guianaschild; pt, Planalto das Guianas, Escudo das Guianas; es, Escudo guayanés) is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a ...

in southern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, and adjacent far northern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Most are restricted 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 ...

highlands, but '' S. evansi'' also occurs in lowlands. On most mountains there are only 1–2 species from this genus, but five are known from

Mount Ayanganna Mount Ayanganna is a sandstone tepui in the Pakaraima Mountains of western Guyana, and located east of Mount Roraima. With a height of it is the easternmost tepui taller than . It is part of the Guiana Shield and Guyana Highlands. Ecology Th ...

and the neighbouring

Mount Wokomung Mount Wokomung is a sandstone tepui in the Pakaraima Mountains of western Guyana, the summit is 1700 metres. Together with Mount Ayanganna, 37 km to the north, Wokomung constitutes the easternmost tepui reaching above 1500 metres. The slo ...

has six species. They are usually found near streams at low levels on branches/leaves or on the ground among vegetation/rocks. They are famous for their breeding strategy where the development from eggs to froglets is completed on the back of the female (the eggs hatch to froglets; there is no free-swimming

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). The common name carrying frog is sometimes used for ''Stefania'' species and it refers to this behavior. A comparable behavior can also be seen in the other genera in the family Hemiphractidae.

Species

There are 19 ''Stefania'' species:

References

Hemiphractidae Amphibians of South America Amphibian genera Taxa named by Juan A. Rivero Amphibians of the Tepuis {{Hemiphractidae-stub