Brevicipitidae |  |
36 species in 5 genera
Commonly Called Rain Frogs
Breviceps adspersus
Photo by Thomas Eimermacher
(Click for family gallery)Previously considered as part of the Microhylidae, there is now strong support that the five genera comprising the monophyletic Brevicipitidae, following Frost et al. (2006), are part of a larger lineage of African frogs including the Hemisotidae, Hyperoliidae and Brevicipitidae. Several studies confirm Brevicipitidae is the sister group of Hemisotidae.
All Brevicipitids are rounded in body and exhibit reductions in their skull. Breviceps is notable for its extreme difference in male and female body sizes. Male frogs are so much smaller and have such short limbs relative to their volume that they are unable to amplex. Instead, they have an adhesive secretion from the skin that allows males and females to "stick" together during mating. Roughly spherical clutches of eggs are deposited in subterranean chambers. All five genera are believed to have direct development in which fully metamorphosed young hatch directly from eggs.
Brevicipitids are restricted to the eastern and southern parts of sub-Saharan Africa, from Ethiopia south to Angola and South Africa.
Written by David Blackburn and AmphibiaWebNotable Family Characteristics
- Terrestrial and fossorial
- Found in forests and desert habitats
- Direct development
- Many species inflate their body when perturbed
- Characters uniting this clade include: (1) lack of ossified sphenethmoids; (2) an extremely short head; (3) middle ear absent.
- Distribution limited to the sub-Saharan Africa, from Ethiopia south to Angola and South Africa
Cartography Credit: Zoe Yoo, UC Berkeley
Range maps sources: AmphibiaWeb, UC Berkeley, and IUCN RedListRelevant Reference
Frost, D. R., T. Grant, J. Faivovich, R. H. Bain, A. Haas, C. F. B. Haddad, R. O. de Sá, A. Channing, M. Wilkinson, S. C. Donnellan, C. J. Raxworthy, J. A. Campbell, B. L. Blotto, P. E. Moler, R. C. Drewes, R. A. Nussbaum, J. D. Lynch, D. M. Green, and W. C. Wheeler. 2006. The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297: 1–370.
Pough, F. H., R. M. Andrews, M. L. Crump, A. H. Savitzky, K. D. Wells, and M. C. Brandley. 2015. Herpetology. Fourth Edition. Massachusetts: Sinauer.
Vitt, L. J., and J. P. Caldwell. 2013. Herpetology. An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Fourth Edition. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Genus Balebreviceps (1 species)
Balebreviceps hillmani account photos no sound/video
Genus Breviceps (19 species)
Breviceps acutirostris account photos no sound/video Breviceps adspersus account photos no sound/video Breviceps bagginsi account no photos no sound/video Breviceps branchi account no photos no sound/video Breviceps carruthersi account photos no sound/video Breviceps fichus no account no photos no sound/video Breviceps fuscus account photos no sound/video Breviceps gibbosus no account photos no sound/video Breviceps macrops account photos no sound/video Breviceps montanus no account photos no sound/video Breviceps mossambicus account photos no sound/video Breviceps namaquensis no account photos no sound/video Breviceps ombelanonga account no photos no sound/video Breviceps passmorei account no photos no sound/video Breviceps poweri no account photos no sound/video Breviceps rosei account photos no sound/video Breviceps sopranus account no photos no sound/video Breviceps sylvestris account photos no sound/video Breviceps verrucosus account photos no sound/video
Genus Callulina (9 species)
Callulina dawida no account photos no sound/video Callulina hanseni no account photos no sound/video Callulina kanga no account no photos no sound/video Callulina kisiwamsitu no account photos no sound/video Callulina kreffti no account photos no sound/video Callulina laphami account photos no sound/video Callulina meteora no account no photos no sound/video Callulina shengena no account photos no sound/video Callulina stanleyi account photos no sound/video
Genus Probreviceps (6 species)
Probreviceps durirostris no account no photos no sound/video Probreviceps loveridgei no account no photos no sound/video Probreviceps macrodactylus no account photos no sound/video Probreviceps rhodesianus no account no photos no sound/video Probreviceps rungwensis no account no photos no sound/video Probreviceps uluguruensis no account no photos no sound/video
Genus Spelaeophryne (1 species)
Spelaeophryne methneri account no photos no sound/video
Citation: AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: https://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed:
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