Crinia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Crinia
Common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Myobatrachidae
Subfamily:	Myobatrachinae
Genus:	Crinia Tschudi, 1838
Species
See text

Crinia is a group of small frogs that live in Australia. They are part of a frog family called Myobatrachidae. You can find Crinia frogs in most parts of Australia, but not in the very dry central areas. Many of these frogs look so much alike that it's hard to tell them apart just by looking. Instead, scientists often tell them apart by listening to their unique calls!

These frogs have toes and fingers that are not webbed, meaning they don't have skin between their digits like some other frogs. Many Crinia species are also polymorphic. This means that within the same group of frogs, you might see many different colors or skin patterns. All Crinia frogs lay their eggs in small groups in water.

The name Crinia comes from an old Greek word, krīnō, which means "to separate." This name was likely chosen because these frogs have "separated toes" without webbing. In 1838, when Johann Jakob von Tschudi first named this group, he pointed out their unwebbed feet as a special feature. Most frogs have webbed feet, which helps them swim.

How Scientists Learn About Crinia Frogs

For many years, especially from the 1950s to the 1970s, scientists worked hard to understand Crinia frogs better. At first, some frogs were all thought to be the common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera). But then, scientists used special methods like studying their mating calls and doing experiments to see if different frogs could have babies together. This helped them discover that some of these frogs were actually different Crinia species.

Sometimes, frogs that were once in the Crinia group were moved to their own new groups, called genera. For example, the Pouched frog and Haswell's frog were given their own genera, Assa and Paracrinia. Also, some species from the Geocrinia and Taudactylus groups were once part of Crinia. The genus Bryobatrachus was also created, but then its species were recently moved back into Crinia.

One special frog, the moss froglet (Crinia nimbus), looks very different from other Crinia frogs. Its tadpoles also develop in a unique way. Because of these big differences, scientists think the moss froglet might soon be placed into its own separate genus again.

Species of Crinia Frogs

The Crinia group currently includes 17 different species:

• Tschudi, Johann J. von (1838). Classification der Batrachier, mit Berücksichtigung der fossilen Tiere dieser Abteilung der Reptilien. Neuchâtel : Erück Petitpierre pp. 102.

See also

In Spanish: Crinia para niños