| Pipidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| African dwarf frog | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Clade: | Pipoidea |
| Clade: | Pipimorpha |
| Family: | Pipidae Gray 1825 |
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| Distribution of Pipidae in black | |
The Pipidae are a family of primitive, tongueless frogs. There are 41 species in the family, found in tropical South America (genus Pipa) and sub-Saharan Africa (the three other genera).
Pipid frogs are highly aquatic and have numerous morphological modifications befitting their habitat. For example, the feet are completely webbed, the body is flattened, and a lateral line system is present in adults. [1] In addition, pipids possess highly modified ears for producing and receiving sound under water. They lack a tongue or vocal cords, instead having bony rods in the larynx that help produce sound. They range from 4 to 19 cm (1.6 to 7.5 in) in body length. [2]
Family PipidaeGray 1825 [3]
The oldest fossil records of frogs more closely related to pipid frogs than to other extant frog families (Pipimorpha) extends into the Early Cretaceous. The oldest known crown group pipids are Oumtkoutia and Pachycentrata from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco and Niger, respectively. [5]
Included taxa after A. M. Aranciaga Rolando et al. 2019 [6]
Leiopelma is a genus of New Zealand primitive frogs, belonging to the suborder Archaeobatrachia. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Leiopelmatidae. The leiopelmatids' relatively basal form indicates they have an ancient lineage. While some taxonomists have suggested combining the North American frogs of the genus Ascaphus in the family Ascaphidae with the New Zealand frogs of the genus Leiopelma in the family Leiopelmatidae, the current consensus is that these two groups constitute two separate families. The four extant species of Leiopelmatidae are only found in New Zealand.
Bombinatoridae is a family of toads found in Eurasia. Species of the family have flattened bodies and some are highly toxic.
Archaeobatrachia is a suborder of the order Anura containing various primitive frogs and toads. As the name suggests, these are the most primitive frogs. Many of the species show certain physiological characteristics which are not present in other frogs and toads, thus giving rise to this group. They are largely found in Eurasia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Borneo, and are characteristically small. In addition, the family Ascaphidae is found in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, and is only represented by two species. The taxon is considered paraphyletic.
The Mesobatrachia is a paraphyletic group of relatively primitive frogs. At the end of 2016, it contained 3 superfamilies, 6 families, 16 genera, and 244 species. Recognized as a group in 1993, the name is contrasted with the primitive Archaeobatrachia and the more diverse and advanced Neobatrachia.
The Neobatrachia are a suborder of the Anura, the order of frogs and toads.
Palaeobatrachus is an extinct genus of frogs from Europe that existed from the middle Eocene to the middle Pleistocene, spanning almost 50 million years. They were obligately aquatic, and would have not spent much time on dry land. They are one of two genera and by far the largest genus in the family Palaeobatrachidae, which are considered to be members of Pipimorpha, related to the South American-African family Pipidae, which includes the African clawed frog and Surinam toad.
Xenopus boumbaensis, the Mawa clawed frog, is a species of frog in the family Pipidae. It is known from a few localities in central and south-eastern Cameroon, and from north-western Republic of Congo and extreme south-western Central African Republic; it probably occurs more widely in the central African forest belt, but identification is difficult: it is one of the cryptic species that resemble Xenopus fraseri, from which it can be distinguished by chromosome number (2n=72) and a male advertisement call of a single note.
The Bouchia clawed frog is a species of frog in the family Pipidae found in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and possibly the Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forests.
The Allen Formation is a geological formation in Argentina whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian to early Maastrichtian. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Indeterminate chelid remains and other vertebrates have also been discovered in this formation.
Avitabatrachus uliana is the only species discovered so far in the extinct genus Avitabatrachus, a genus of prehistoric frogs that lived in the Middle Cretaceous. Fossils of A. uliana were found in the Candeleros Formation of northwestern Patagonia in Argentina. It was properly described in 2000 and was then concluded to be most closely related to Pipidae frogs. Hence, it was included in Pipimorpha.
Nevobatrachus gracilis is the only species in the extinct genus Nevobatrachus, a genus of prehistoric frogs. The original generic name of this frog was Cordicephalus Nevo (1968); however, this generic name turned out to be preoccupied by a cestode genus Cordicephalus Wardle, McLeod & Stewart (1947), which remains nomenclaturally available in spite of being considered a junior synonym of the diphyllobothriid genus Pyramicocephalus. Mahony (2019) coined a replacement name Nevobatrachus. Fossils of N. gracilis were found in a lacustrine deposit in Makhtesh Ramon called "Amphibian Hill" and it is believed they lived during the Lower Cretaceous.
Vulcanobatrachus is an extinct genus of fossil frog. The genus contains the single species Vulcanobatrachus mandelai found at Marydale, South Africa, described in 2005 and named after Nelson Mandela. The genus owes its name to the fact that fossils were recovered from an extinct volcanic crater lake of Late Cretaceous age. The fossil frogs are assumed to have died following a limnic eruption (a degassing event possibly of CO2) by the volcano.
Llankibatrachus is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs in the family Pipidae. They are known from the Ypresian (Casamayoran) Huitrera Formation of Argentina.
Calyptocephalella is a genus of frogs in the family Calyptocephalellidae. It is represented by a single living species, Calyptocephalella gayi, commonly known as the helmeted water toad, Chilean helmeted bull frog, or wide-mouthed toad. Additionally, there are a few extinct species that are only known from Late Cretaceous and Paleogene fossil remains from Patagonia in South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. The helmeted water toad living today is aquatic to semi-aquatic, and found in deep ponds and reservoirs in central Chile and possibly adjacent west-central Argentina.
Pipimorpha is an unranked clade containing all frogs which are more closely related to living Pipidae species than to living Rhinophrynus species. Members of this group are highly adapted to aquatic life. The oldest pipimorphs are Neusibatrachus and Gracilibatrachus from the Early Cretaceous of Spain, with other records of the group known from Afro-Arabia and South America like modern Pipidae. The extinct family Palaeobatrachidae, particularly the genus Palaeobatrachus were widespread and abundant in Europe during the Cenozoic, until their extinction during the Middle Pleistocene around 500,000 years ago due to being unable to cope with the increasing aridity and freezing temperatures of the ice ages.
Xenopus lenduensis, the Lendu Plateau clawed frog, is a species of frog in the family Pipidae endemic to the Orientale Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Calyptocephalellidae are a family of toads found in Chile containing two living genera, Calyptocephalella and Telmatobufo.
Tralkasaurus is a genus of abelisaurid dinosaur from the Huincul Formation from Río Negro Province in Argentina. The type and only species is Tralkasaurus cuyi, named in 2020 by Mauricio Cerroni and colleagues based on an incomplete skeleton. A medium-sized abelisaurid, Tralkasaurus exhibits a conflicting blend of characteristics found among the early-diverging abelisauroids with others that characterize the highly specialized clade Brachyrostra, and thus its position within the clade is poorly-resolved.
The Huitrera Formation is a geological formation in the Neuquén Basin in northern Patagonian Argentina whose strata date back to the Early Eocene of the Paleogene, or Casamayoran in the South American land mammal age classification.
Yatenavis is an extinct genus of enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous Chorrillo Formation of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Y. ieujensis, known from a partial humerus.
