Dischidodactylus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dischidodactylus |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Craugastoridae |
| Subfamily: | Ceuthomantinae |
| Genus: | Dischidodactylus Lynch, 1979 |
| Type species | |
| Elosia duidensis Rivero, 1968
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| Species | |
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2 species (see text) |
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Mount Duida frogs (Dischidodactylus) are a group of frogs found only on the flat-topped mountains called tepuis in southern Venezuela. These frogs belong to the craugastorid family. Their scientific name, Dischidodactylus, comes from Greek words meaning "divided" and "finger" or "toe." This name refers to a special split flap on their fingers and toes.
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Understanding Mount Duida Frogs
Scientists study how living things are related. This is called taxonomy. They place Mount Duida frogs in the Craugastoridae family. This grouping is based on how the frogs look, as scientists don't have DNA information for them yet.
Mount Duida frogs are closely related to another group of frogs called Ceuthomantis. Both types of frogs share a cool feature: their finger and toe tips have flaps that are completely or almost completely split. Also, both have soft, flat bumps on their backs, and adult male frogs don't have special pads used for mating.
However, there are some differences. Mount Duida frogs have small, tooth-like bumps on a bone in their mouth called the vomer. Ceuthomantis frogs, on the other hand, do not have webbing between their toes. Some other experts, like AmphibiaWeb, place Mount Duida frogs in a different family, Strabomantidae. This suggests they might not be as closely related to Ceuthomantis as once thought.
What Do Mount Duida Frogs Look Like?
Mount Duida frogs are quite small. Female frogs can grow up to 43 mm (1.7 in) long from their snout to their rear. Their head is not as wide as their body.
You might not easily see their eardrum (called the tympanic membrane), but you can often see the ring around it under their skin. They don't have any bony ridges on their head. As mentioned, they have small, slanted, tooth-like bumps on a bone in their mouth called the vomer. Their finger and toe tips are wide, rounded, and split. They also have a groove around these tips, and their finger and toe bones are T-shaped. Their back skin feels bumpy, and their belly skin is covered in small, raised areas.
Species of Mount Duida Frogs
There are two known species in the Dischidodactylus group:
- Dischidodactylus colonnelloi Ayarzagüena, 1985
- Dischidodactylus duidensis (Rivero, 1968)
See also
In Spanish: Dischidodactylus para niños
