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List of amphibians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The temnospondyl Eryops had sturdy limbs to support its body on land
Red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) with limbs and feet specialised for climbing
Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), a primitive salamander
The bright colours of the common reed frog (Hyperolius viridiflavus) are typical of a toxic species
Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) can parachute to the forest floor from high in the trees.

Amphibians are ectothermic, tetrapod vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.

A list of amphibians organizes the class of amphibian by family and subfamilies and mentions the number of species in each of them.

The list below largely follows Darrel Frost's Amphibian Species of the World (ASW), Version 5.5 (31 January 2011). Another classification, which largely follows Frost, but deviates from it in part is the one of AmphibiaWeb, which is run by the California Academy of Sciences and several of universities. The major differences between these two classifications are:

  • Frost's ASW has split several families from other families (i.e. elevated to distinct families), whereas AmphibiaWeb has not (i.e., keeping them within the original families as subfamilies):
    • From Dendrobatidae: Aromobatidae
    • From Myobatrachidae: Limnodynastidae
    • From Ranidae: Ceratobatrachidae, Dicroglossidae, Mantellidae, Micrixalidae, Nyctibatrachidae, Petropedetidae, Phrynobatrachidae, Ptychadenidae, Pyxicephalidae, Ranixalidae, Rhacophoridae
  • AmphibiaWeb has also split a few families off from other families (i.e. elevated to distinct families), where Frost's ASW has not (i.e., keeping them within the original families):

Class Amphibia

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There are a total of 8216 amphibian species in three orders.[1]

Order Anura: frogs and toads

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As of 29 August 2020, 7243 species of frogs and toads are recognised by Amphibian Species of the World.[1]

  • Family Megophryidae – litter frogs or short legged toads, 268 species
    • Subfamily Megophryinae – Asian spadefoot toads, 106 species
  • Family Pelobatidae – European spadefoot toads, 6 species
  • Family Pelodytidae – parsley frogs, 5 species
  • Family Pipidae – tongueless frogs, 41 species
  • Family Rhinophrynidae – Mexican burrowing toad, 1 species
  • Family Scaphiopodidae – American spadefoot toads, 7 species

Suborder Neobatrachia

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As of 29 August 2020, 759 species of salamanders are recognised by Amphibian Species of the World.[1]

Suborder Sirenoidea

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As of 29 August 2020, 214 species of caecilians are recognised by Amphibian Species of the World.[1]

See also

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Sources

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  1. ^ a b c d Frost, Darrel R. "ASW Home". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
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