Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broad sense, it is paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods excluding the amniotes. All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems. Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.
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.
The Pipidae are a family of primitive, tongueless frogs. There are 41 species in the family, found in tropical South America and sub-Saharan Africa.
The European spadefoot toads are a family of frogs, the Pelobatidae, with only one extant genus Pelobates, containing six species. They are native to Europe, the Mediterranean, northwestern Africa, and western Asia.
African dwarf frog is the common name for members of Hymenochirus, a genus of aquatic frog native to parts of Equatorial Africa. They are common in the pet trade and are often mistaken for the African clawed frog, a similar-looking frog in the same family. African dwarf frogs. Their common name is obtained from their place of origin and the claws on their hind legs.
Peltobatrachus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the late Permian period of Tanzania. The sole species, Peltobatrachus pustulatus, is also the sole member of the family Peltobatrachidae.
Triadobatrachus is an extinct genus of salientian frog-like amphibians, including only one known species, Triadobatrachus massinoti. It is the oldest member of the frog lineage known, and an excellent example of a transitional fossil. It lived during the Early Triassic about 250 million years ago, in what is now Madagascar.
Arthroleptis schubotzi, also known as the Burundi screeching frog, Schubotz's squeaker, and Kivu dwarf litter frog, is a species of frog in the family Arthroleptidae. It is found in the African Rift Valley in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kivu), southwestern Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and western Uganda. There are taxonomic problems in delimiting this species.
Arthroleptis xenodactyloides, also known as the dwarf squeaker or Chirinda screeching frog, is a species of frog in the family Arthroleptidae. It is found in eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and Malawi, central Mozambique, and eastern Zambia northwards to northeastern Tanzania and the Taita Hills of Kenya; it probably occurs in adjacent Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are lowland and montane forests, dense woodlands, grasslands, and swamps. It is locally threatened by habitat loss.
Nectophrynoides minutus is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Tanzania and is known from the Uluguru and Rubeho Mountains. Common names small viviparous toad, minute tree toad, and dwarf forest toad have been proposed for it.
Hyperolius minutissimus is a species of frog in the family Hyperoliidae. It's common names are tiny reed frog and dwarf reed frog. It is endemic to Tanzania and known from the Udzungwa Mountains and from near Njombe in the Southern Highlands.
Hyperolius pusillus is a species of frog in the family Hyperoliidae. It is found throughout diverse environments in eastern and southern Africa. It is a very common frog. Its natural habitats are open savanna, bush land and grassland. Breeding takes place in shallow pans, vleis, open swamps, and dams with floating vegetation such as water lilies.
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.
Albionbatrachus is an extinct genus of prehistoric frogs from England and Romania. Two species are recognized: While previously synonymised with Palaeobatrachus, it is now considered a distinct palaeobatrachid genus based on characters of the frontoparietals.
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.
Trimerorhachis is an extinct genus of dvinosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trimerorhachidae. It is known from the Early Permian of the southwestern United States, with most fossil specimens having been found in the Texas Red Beds. The type species of Trimerorhachis, T. insignis, was named by American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1878. Cope named a second species from Texas, T. mesops, in 1896. The species T. rogersi and T. greggi are also from Texas, and the species T. sandovalensis is from New Mexico.
The Pyxicephalidae are a family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon Thaumastosaurus lived in Europe.
Richard Sternfeld was a German-Jewish herpetologist, who was responsible for describing over forty species of amphibians and reptiles, particularly from Germany's African and Pacific colonies.
