The population of amphibians of

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 ...

is made up exclusively of

frogs 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 oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

. There are 311 named species of frogs on Madagascar, but several hundred have been identified using

DNA barcoding DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called "sequences"), an indiv ...

and remain to be formally described. Native described species belong to four different families:

Hyperoliidae The Hyperoliidae, or sedge frogs and bush frogs, are a large family of small to medium-sized, brightly colored frogs which contains more than 250 species in 19 genera. Seventeen genera are native to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the monotypic ...

(11 species),

Mantellidae The Mantellidae are a family of the order Anura. These frogs are endemic to the islands of Madagascar and Mayotte. Systematics The family Mantellidae is composed of three extremely ecologically diverse groups of frogs, divided into three sub ...

(212 species),

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

(86 species) and Ranidae (1 species). Two further species are introduced: the ranid frog ''Hoplobatrachus tigrinus'' and the

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...

''Duttaphrynus melanostictus''. Almost all native species 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 ...

, with the exception of ''

Ptychadena mascareniensis The Mascarene grass frog (''Ptychadena mascareniensis''), or Mascarene ridged frog, is a species of frog in the family Ptychadenidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and Mauritius. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical ...

''. 85 species are threatened with extinction, nine of which are considered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

as critically endangered. Their numbers are largely affected by major alterations of habitat due to deforestation and the expansion of paddy fields and villages, and to a lesser extent, by illegal international trade.

Hyperoliidae

Mantellidae

Microhylidae

Ranidae

References

{{Africa topic, List of amphibians of

Amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...