| 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 |
 | |
| 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]
Morphological data suggest that Xenopus is the sister-group of all other pipids, [3] [4] whereas molecular data consistently suggest that Pipa is the sister-group of other pipids. [5] [6]
Family PipidaeGray 1825 [7]
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. [9]
Included taxa after A. M. Aranciaga Rolando et al. 2019 [10]
However, a more recent analysis suggests that some of these taxa are only close relatives of Pipidae, but outside the crown-group. Furthermore, the composition of this crown clade (in terms of which extinct taxa are included) depends on whether or not the topology is constrained to reflect the molecular tree. [4]
The African clawed frog, also known as simply Xenopus, African clawed toad, African claw-toed frog or the Platanna) is a species of African aquatic frog of the family Pipidae. Its name is derived from the short black claws on its feet. The word Xenopus means 'strange foot' and laevis means 'smooth'.
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.
Sirenidae, the sirens, are a family of neotenic aquatic salamanders. Family members have very small fore limbs and lack hind limbs altogether. In one species, the skeleton in their fore limbs is made of only cartilage. In contrast to most other salamanders, they have external gills bunched together on the neck in both larval and adult states. Sirens are found only in the Southeastern United States and northern Mexico.
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 Arrabal's Suriname toad is a species of frog in the family Pipidae found in Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and possibly Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, ponds, and canals and ditches. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Merlin's dwarf gray frog, or Merlin's clawed frog, is a species of frog in the family Pipidae. It is monotypic within the genus Pseudhymenochirus. It is found in southern Guinea-Bissau, western Guinea, and southern Sierra Leone.
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.
The Kem Kem Group is a geological group in the Kem Kem region of eastern Morocco, whose strata date back to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Its strata are subdivided into two geological formations, with the lower Ifezouane Formation and the upper Aoufous Formation used for the strata on the eastern side of the Atlas Mountains (Tinghir), with the Gara Sbaa Formation and Douira Formation used in the southern Tafilalt region. It is exposed on an escarpment along the Algeria–Morocco border.
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. This prehistoric amphibian was properly described in 2000 and was then concluded to be most closely related to Pipidae frogs. Hence, it was included in Pipimorpha. A subsequent phylogenetic analysis confirmed this conclusion, and further suggested that Avitabatrachus uliana is more closely related to Pipidae and Shelaniinae than to Palaeobatrachus.
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.
Pachycentrata is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibian.
Shelania is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs that lived in South America during the Eocene. Its type species is Shelania pascuali. Fossils of Shelania have been found in the Mustersan Vaca Mahuida and Laguna del Hunco Formations of Argentina. Shelania is the type taxon of the Shelaniinae, which was erected for an unranked clade that also includes the early anurans Saltenia, Kuruleufenia, and Patagopipa. A more recent phylogenetic analysis further suggested that Shelania is more closely related to Pipidae than to Palaeobatrachus, and that the second species previously attributed to Shelania is not sufficiently closely related to the type-species to be retained in Shelania.
Llankibatrachus is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs in the family Pipidae. They are known from the Ypresian (Casamayoran) Huitrera Formation of Argentina.
Thoraciliacus rostriceps is an extinct species of frog from the Cretaceous period and the only species of the genus Thoraciliacus, which is classified in the unranked clade Pipimorpha. Fossils of T. rostriceps were found in Makhtesh Ramon, Negev Desert, Israel and it is believed they lived during the Barremian. Other fossils have been found near Marydale, South Africa in an Upper Cretaceous lake.
Pipoidea are a clade of frogs, that contains the most recent common ancestor of living Pipidae and Rhinophrynidae as well as all its descendants. It is broadly equivalent to Xenoanura.
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 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.
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