Leiopelma

Leiopelma Temporal range: Miocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Hochstetter's frog (Leiopelma hochstetteri)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Suborder:	Archaeobatrachia
Family:	Leiopelmatidae Mivart, 1869
Genus:	Leiopelma Fitzinger, 1861
Species
See text
Distribution of Leiopelmatidae (in black)

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' unique and ancestral features indicate they are part of an ancient lineage. ^[1] 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. ^{[2] [3]} The three extant species of Leiopelmatidae are only found in New Zealand. ^[4]

Overview

The New Zealand primitive frogs' defining characteristics are their extra vertebrae (for a total of nine) and the remains of the tail muscles (the tail itself is absent in adults, although it is present in the younger frogs, which need the extra skin surface until their lungs are fully developed). These ancestral characteristics are shared with the family Ascaphidae (found only in North America), which is of the same suborder.

Late jump recovery is unique in Leiopelmatidae. When leiopelmatid species jump, they land in a "belly flop" fashion, repositioning their limbs for takeoff for the next jump only after hitting the ground with the ventral surface of their torsos. The appearance of early jump recovery in other frogs is a key innovation in anuran evolution. ^[5]

They are unusually small frogs, only 5 cm (2.0 in) in length. Most species lay their eggs in moist ground, typically under rocks or vegetation. After hatching, the tadpoles nest in the male's back, all without the need for standing or flowing water. However, Hochstetter's frog lays its eggs in shallow ponds and has free-living tadpoles, although they do not swim far from the place of hatching, or even feed, before metamorphosing into adult frogs. ^[6] Lifespans may be long (more than 30 years) for such small organisms. ^[7]

Introduced fauna are thought to have had a negative impact on these native frogs, with 93% of all reported predation events on native frogs being attributed to introduced fauna, ^[8] primarily ship rats.

Taxonomy & systematics

Species

Family Leiopelmatidae

• Genus Leiopelma
  • Archey's frog, Leiopelma archeyiTurbott, 1942
  • Hamilton's frog, Leiopelma hamiltoniMcCulloch, 1919
  • Hochstetter's frog, Leiopelma hochstetteri Fitzinger, 1861

Extinct species

Three extinct species are known by subfossil remains, also from New Zealand. They became extinct during the past 1,000 years. ^[9]

• †Aurora frog, Leiopelma auroraensis
• †Markham's frog, Leiopelma markhami ^[10]
• †Waitomo frog, Leiopelma waitomoensis ^[11]

One species from the late Pliocene period has recently been described. ^[12]

• † Leiopelma bishopi Easton, Tennyson and Rawlence, 2021

Two species are known from Miocene deposits of the Saint Bathans fauna, with indeterminate remains possibly representing additional species ^{[13] [14]}

• † Leiopelma miocaenale
• † Leiopelma acricarina

Evolutionary history

DNA analysis indicates that Leiopelmatidae share a distant common ancestry with Ascaphidae to the exclusion of all other frogs, and Leiopelmatidae and Ascaphidae diverged from all other frogs around 200 million years ago. ^[15] L. archeyi and L. hochstetteri are thought to have diverged from each other between 40 and 50 million years ago, based on genomic divergence estimates. Fossils of the genus are known from the early Miocene (19–16 million years ago) aged St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand. ^[13]

Anura

Leiopelmatidae Ascaphidae Bombianura Costata Bombinatoridae Alytidae Discoglossidae Pipanura Xenoanura Pipidae Rhinophrynidae Acosmanura Anomocoela Scaphiopodidae Pelodytidae Pelobatoidea Pelobatidae Megophryidae Neobatrachia Heleophrynidae Phthanobatrachia Sooglossoidea Sooglossidae Nasikabatrachidae Notogaeanura Australobatrachia Calyptocephalellidae Myobatrachidae Limnodynastidae Nobleoanura Brachycephaloidea Ceuthomantidae Brachycephalidae Eleutherodactylidae Craugastoridae (Terrarana) Hemiphractidae Athesphatanura Hylidae Leptodactyliformes Agastorophrynia Bufonidae Aromobatidae Dendrobatidae Diphyabatracea Leptodactylidae Allophrynidae Centrolenidae Ceratophryidae Odontophrynidae Cycloramphidae Alsodidae Hylodidae Telmatobiidae Batrachylidae Rhinodermatidae Ranoides Allodapanura Microhylidae Afrobatrachia Xenosyneunitanura Brevicipitidae Hemisotidae Laurentobatrachia Hyperoliidae Arthroleptidae Natatanura Ptychadenidae Victoranura Micrixalidae Phrynobatrachidae Conrauidae Pyxicephaloidea Petropedetidae Pyxicephalidae Nyctibatrachidae Ceratobatrachidae Saukrobatrachia Ranixalidae Dicroglossidae Aglaioanura Rhacophoridae Mantellidae Ranidae

See also

• Frogs of New Zealand
• Frogsportal

References

1. • Roelants, Kim; Franky Bossuyt (February 2005). "Archaeobatrachian paraphyly and Pangaean diversification of crown-group frogs". Systematic Biology. 54 (1): 111–126. doi: 10.1080/10635150590905894 . PMID   15805014.
   • San Mauro, Diego; Miguel Vences; Marina Alcobendas; Rafael Zardoya; Axel Meyer (May 2005). "Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea" (PDF). American Naturalist. 165 (5): 590–599. doi:10.1086/429523. JSTOR   10.1086/429523. PMID   15795855. S2CID   17021360.
2. Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Leiopelmatidae Mivart, 1869". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
3. • J.M. Conlon et al. / Peptides 30 (2009) 1069–1073
   • Cannatella, David (2008). "Leiopelmatidae. Leiopelma". The Tree of Life Web Project. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
4. "DOC: Photo-stage and Archey's Frog" . Retrieved 2005-12-05.
5. Essner, RL Jr; Suffian, DJ; Bishop, PJ; Reilly, SM (2010). "Landing in basal frogs: evidence of saltational patterns in the evolution of anuran locomotion". Naturwissenschaften. 97 (10): 935–9. Bibcode:2010NW.....97..935E. doi:10.1007/s00114-010-0697-4. PMID   20625697. S2CID   18602582.
6. Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 85. ISBN   978-0-12-178560-4.
7. Bell, Ben D.; et al. (2004). "The fate of a population of the endemic frog Leiopelma pakeka (Anura: Leiopelmatidae) translocated to restored habitat on Maud Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 31 (2): 123–131. doi:10.1080/03014223.2004.9518366.
8. Egeter, Bastian; Robertson, Bruce C.; Bishop, Phillip J. (2015). "A Synthesis of Direct Evidence of Predation on Amphibians in New Zealand, in the Context of Global Invasion Biology". Herpetological Review. 46: 512–519.
9. • Worthy, Trevor H. (1987). "Osteology of Leiopelma (Amphibia: Leiopelmatidae) and descriptions of three new subfossil Leiopelma species". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 17 (3): 201–251. doi:10.1080/03036758.1987.10418160.
   • Worthy, Trevor H. (1987). "Palaeoecological information concerning members of the frog genus Leiopelma: Leiopelmatidae in New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 17 (4): 409–420. doi: 10.1080/03036758.1987.10426482 .
   • Nadia Webster (2004). "Native frog captive husbandry manual" (PDF). Department of Conservation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
10. "Holotype of Leiopelma markhami". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
11. "Holotype of Leiopelma waitomoensis". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
12. Easton, Luke J.; Tennyson, Alan J. D.; Rawlence, Nicolas J. (2021-10-12). "A new species of Leiopelma frog (Amphibia: Anura: Leiopelmatidae) from the late Pliocene of New Zealand" . New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 49 (3): 215–224. doi:10.1080/03014223.2021.1979053. ISSN   0301-4223. S2CID   243120256.
13. Worthy, Th; Tennyson, Ajd; Scofield, Rp; Hand, Sj (December 2013). "Early Miocene fossil frogs (Anura: Leiopelmatidae) from New Zealand" . Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 43 (4): 211–230. doi:10.1080/03036758.2013.825300. hdl: 2328/35958 . ISSN   0303-6758. S2CID   84562226.
14. Updating The Record from the Early Miocene St Bathans Fauna, Central Otago and its Significance for Documenting the Assembly of New Zealand’s Terrestrial Biota, Conference Paper · July 2014
15. Feng, Yan-Jie; Blackburn, David C.; Liang, Dan; Hillis, David M.; Wake, David B.; Cannatella, David C.; Zhang, Peng (2017-07-18). "Phylogenomics reveals rapid, simultaneous diversification of three major clades of Gondwanan frogs at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (29): E5864 –E5870. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1704632114 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5530686 . PMID   28673970.

Further reading

• D.G. Newman (1996). "Native frog (Leiopelma ssp.) recovery plan" (PDF). Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 2007-11-07.

External links

• New Zealand Frog Conservation Biology - research on New Zealand frog biology