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Pipidae

(Family)

Overview

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The Pipidae are a family of primitive, tongueless frogs. The thirty species in the family Pipidae are found in tropical South America (genus Pipa) and sub-Saharan Africa (four other genera).

These frogs are exclusively 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.1] In addition, pipids possess highly modified ears for producing and receiving sound underwater. They lack a tongue or vocal cords, instead having bony rods in the larynx that help produce sound. They range from 4 to 19 centimeters (1.6 to 7.5 in) in body length.[2]

The fossil record for pipids is relatively good with twelve extinct species known. Six of these are placed in the extant genus Xenopus, the remainder in extinct genera. These fossils are known from Africa, South America, and Middle East back to the Lower Cretaceous.[2]

Genera

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Family Pipidae

th.[2]

The fossil record for pipids is relatively good with twelve extinct species known. Six of these are placed in the extant genus Xenopus, the remainder in extinct genera. These fossils are known from Africa, South America, and Middle East back to the Lower Cretaceous.[2]

Genera

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Family Pipidae

References

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  1. ^ "AmphibiaWeb: Pipidae". Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. http://amphibiaweb.org/lists/Pipidae.shtml. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
  2. ^ a b Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G.. ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 86?87. ISBN 0-12-178560-2. 
  • Gissi, Carmela; Diego San Mauro, Graziano Pesole and Rafael Zardoya (February 2006). "Mitochondrial phylogeny of Anura (Amphibia): A case study of congruent phylogenetic reconstruction using amino acid and nucleotide characters". Gene 366 (2): 228?237. doi:10.1016/j.gene.2005.07.034. PMID 16307849. 
  • 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 and Axel Meyer (May 2005). "Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea". American Naturalist 165 (5): 590?599. doi:10.1086/429523. PMID 15795855. 

External links

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Data related to Pipidae at Wikispecies Media related to Pipidae at Wikimedia Commons

Taxonomy

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The Family Pipidae is a member of the Superfamily Pipoidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Pipidae:

The Family Pipidae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Cordicephalus

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[1] [more]

Hymenochirus

African dwarf frogs can be found all around the spreading from tropical to subtropical Africa but the vast majority of them are from the Congo region. The African dwarf frog is an aquatic animal living nearly all its life entirely underwater, but needs to rise to the surface to breathe atmospheric air because they have lungs and not gills. They absorb oxygen through diffussion using specially adapted skin[clarification needed]. They are fairly small in size and don’t weigh more than a few ounces. They vary slightly in color but for the most part they are earth toned. These frogs' life expectancy can range anywhere from 5 to 18 years. [more]

Pipa

A Genus in the Kingdom unknown!.[2] [more]

Pseudhymenochirus

Pseudhymenochirus merlini (also known as Melin's Dwarf Gray Frog) is a species of frog in the Pipidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Pseudhymenochirus.[] It is found in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marches. [more]

Shelania

Silurana

Silurana is a genus of in the Pipidae family. [more]

Thoraciliacus

A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[3] [more]

Xenopus

Xenopus (Gk., xeno=strange, pous=foot) is a genus of highly aquatic frogs native to Sub-Saharan Africa. There are 20 species in the Xenopus genus. They are known collectively as African Clawed Frogs or Platanna. The best-known species belonging to this genus is Xenopus laevis, which is commonly studied as a model organism. [more]

At least 35 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Xenopus.

More info about the Genus Xenopus may be found here.

References

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  1. ^ "AmphibiaWeb: Pipidae". Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. http://amphibiaweb.org/lists/Pipidae.shtml. Retrieved 2009-10-25. 
  2. ^ a b Zweifel, Richard G. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G.. ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 86?87. ISBN 0-12-178560-2. 

Footnotes

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  1. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=31812
  2. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=31596
  3. http://www.ubio.org/browser/details.php?namebankID=31816

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:39:51