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Microhylidae

 
Microhylidae

 
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Microhylidae
 
 
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Microhylidae is a geographically widespread family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 of frog
Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . The name frog derives from Old English language frogga, , cognate with Sanskrit plava , probably deriving from Proto-Indo-European language praw = "to jump"....
s. There are 413 species in 69 genera and nine subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.

uggested by their name, Microhylids are mostly small frogs. Many species are below in length, although some species are as large as . They can be arboreal
Arboreal

Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or Shrubes....
 or terrestrial, and some will even habit close to water.






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Microhylidae is a geographically widespread family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 of frog
Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . The name frog derives from Old English language frogga, , cognate with Sanskrit plava , probably deriving from Proto-Indo-European language praw = "to jump"....
s. There are 413 species in 69 genera and nine subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.

Description

As suggested by their name, Microhylids are mostly small frogs. Many species are below in length, although some species are as large as . They can be arboreal
Arboreal

Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or Shrubes....
 or terrestrial, and some will even habit close to water. The ground dwellers are often found under leaf litter within forests, occasionally venturing out at night to hunt. There are two main shapes for the Microhylids, one with wide bodies and narrow mouths, and the other with normal frog proportions. Those with narrow mouths generally eat termite
Termite

The termites are a group of social insects usually classified at the Taxonomy of Order Isoptera . As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate Order Hymenoptera....
s and ant
Ant

Ants are Eusociality insects of the family Formicidae, and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolution from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and Evolutionary radiation after the rise of flowering plants....
s, and the others have diets typical of most frogs. The species of the genus Breviceps
Breviceps

Breviceps is a genus of Microhylidae frogs....
 are burrowing frogs found in the arid regions of Africa. Some of their species will even lay their eggs under ground.

Reproduction

The Microhylids of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 completely bypass the tadpole
Tadpole

A tadpole or polliwog is the wholly aquatic larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian....
 stage, with direct development from egg
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
 to frog. The arboreal species can therefore lay the eggs within the trees, and never need venture to the ground. Where species do have tadpoles, these almost always lack the teeth or horny beak typical of the tadpoles of other families.

Anatomy

The skull has paired palatines and frontoparietals. Facial nerve passes through anterior acoustic foramen in auditory capsule; trigeminal and facial nerve ganglia are fused to form a prootic ganglion. There are eight (or seven) presacral holochordal vertebrae and they are all precoelous except for a biconcave surface on last presacral. Pectoral girdle is firmisternal and some show reduced clavicle and procoracoids Terminal phalanges blunt, pointed or t-shaped. Tadpoles lack keratinized mouth parts and have a large spiracular chamber emptied by a caudomedial spiracle.

Range

Frogs from Microhylidae occur throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, eastern India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
, south-east Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, through New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. Although most are found in tropical or sub-tropical regions, a few species can be found in arid or non-tropical areas. They are the majority frog species in New Guinea and Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
.

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