The Caudata are a group of amphibians containing the extant salamanders and all extinct species of amphibians more closely related to salamanders than to frogs. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults.
True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North America, northern South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Asian range extends across the East Indies to New Guinea and a single species, the Australian wood frog, has spread into the far north of Australia.
The Alytidae are a family of primitive frogs. Their common name is painted frogs or midwife toads. Most are endemic to Europe, but three species occur in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct is found in Israel.
Megophryidae, commonly known as goose frogs, is a large family of frogs native to the warm southeast of Asia, from the Himalayan foothills eastwards, south to Indonesia and the Greater Sunda Islands in Maritime Southeast Asia, and extending to the Philippines. Fossil remains are also known from North America. As of 2014 it encompasses 246 species of frogs divided between five genera. For lack of a better vernacular name, they are commonly called megophryids.
Pelodytidae, also known as the parsley frogs, or rarely, mud divers, is a family of frogs. It contains a single extant genus, Pelodytes, and three genera only known from fossils. The extant species are found in southwestern Europe and the Caucasus.
The Rhinophrynidae are a family of frogs containing one extant genus, the monotypic Rhinophrynus, and a number of fossil genera. The family is sometimes known as the Mexican burrowing toads or simply burrowing toads.
The Arthroleptidae are a family of frogs found in sub-Saharan Africa. This group includes African treefrogs in the genus Leptopelis along with the terrestrial breeding squeakers Arthroleptis, and several genera restricted to the Guinean forests of central and west Africa, such as the hairy frog (Trichobatrachus).
The Eleutherodactylidae are a family of direct-developing frogs native to northern South America, the Caribbean, and southernmost North America. They are sometimes known under the common name rain frogs. Formerly the subfamily Eleutherodactylinae of the family Leptodactylidae, it was raised to the family status following a major revision of New World direct-developing frogs in 2008. As currently defined, the family has more than 200 species.
The Cycloramphidae are a family of frogs endemic to southeastern Brazil. This family has seen large changes in its composition. Genera that have at some point been included in the Cycloramphidae are at present placed in the Alsodidae, Hylodidae, Leptodactylidae, and Rhinodermatidae. Of these, the Alsodidae and/or Hylodidae have also been considered as subfamilies of Cycloramphidae ; the Cycloramphidae, as recognized at present, would be similar to subfamily Cycloramphinae under such system.
Ceratophrys is a genus of frogs in the family Ceratophryidae. They are also known as South American horned frogs as well as Pacman frogs due to their characteristic round shape and large mouth, reminiscent of the video game character Pac-Man.
The Aromobatidae are a family of frogs native to Central and South America. They are sometimes referred to as cryptic forest frogs or cryptic poison frogs. They are the sister taxon of the Dendrobatidae, the poison dart frogs, but are not as toxic as most dendrobatids are.
The Petropedetidae are a family of frogs containing two genera and 11 species. They are found in sub-Saharan tropical Africa and are sometimes known under common name African torrent frogs.
Beelzebufo is an extinct genus of hyloid frog from the Late Cretaceous Berivotra and Maevarano Formations of Madagascar. The type species is B. ampinga, and common names assigned by the popular media to B. ampinga include devil frog, devil toad, and the frog from hell.
Nyctibatrachidae is a small family of frogs found in the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka. Their common name is robust frogs. Recognition of Nyctibatrachidae as a family is fairly recent. These frogs were previously placed in the broadly defined family Ranidae, which was more recently divided into three subfamilies: Lankanectinae, Nyctibatrachinae, and Astrobatrachinae.
The frog family Dicroglossidae occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa, with most genera and species being found in Asia. The common name of the family is fork-tongued frogs.
Craugastoridae, commonly known as fleshbelly frogs, is a family of New World direct-developing frogs. As delineated here, following the Amphibian Species of the World, it contains 129 species. They are found from the southern United States southwards to Central and South America.
Hylinae is a large subfamily of "tree frogs", family Hylidae.
The Alsodidae are a small family of frogs from South America between Patagonia and southern Brazil. It contains 30 species in three genera. This family, along with several other families, used to be included in the family Leptodactylidae. It was then a subfamily in the family Cycloramphidae, before being recognized as a family first in 2011.
The Odontophrynidae are a family of frogs from southern and eastern South America. This family was first established in 1969 as the tribe Odontophrynini within the (then) very large family Leptodactylidae. Molecular phylogenetics analyses prompted the move of this group to the Cycloramphidae in 2006, before they became recognized as their own family Odontophrynidae in 2011.
The Leiuperinae are a subfamily of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. Over 90 species are in five genera. The distribution of this subfamily is from southern Mexico to the Central America and much of South America.
