Petropedetidae facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Petropedetidae |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Petropedetes cameronensis | |
Scientific classification  |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Clade: | Ranoidea |
| Family: | Petropedetidae Noble, 1931 |
| Type genus | |
| Petropedetes Reichenow, 1874
|
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Petropedetinae |
|
The Petropedetidae are a group of frogs that includes three different types, called genera, and a total of 12 species. You can find these frogs in the warm, tropical parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They are often known as African torrent frogs because of where they live.
These frogs love to live near clear, fast-moving streams, especially in forests. They are often found in the "splash zone," which is the area where water splashes from the stream. Their Tadpoles (baby frogs) are either partly on land in the wet spray zone or fully in the water where the currents are strongest. Some types of these frogs even guard their eggs, which are called clutches. These frogs can be small, like the Ericabatrachus species, or medium to large, like the Arthroleptides and Petropedetes species.
What Are Petropedetidae?
The Petropedetidae family is related to the true frogs, which belong to a family called Ranidae. For a long time, scientists thought Petropedetidae were just a smaller group within the Ranidae family. However, now most scientists agree that Petropedetidae are special enough to be their own separate family of frogs.
Types of Petropedetidae Frogs
There are three main groups, or genera, of frogs in the Petropedetidae family:
- Arthroleptides Nieden, 1911 – These are known as African torrent frogs. There are three species in this group. (Nieden named this group in 1911.)
- Ericabatrachus Largen, 1991 – These are called Bale Mountains frogs. There is only one species in this group. (Largen named this group in 1991.)
- Petropedetes Reichenow, 1874 – These are known as African water frogs. There are nine species in this group. (Reichenow named this group in 1874.)
Scientists only recently decided that Arthroleptides should be its own separate group, instead of being part of Petropedetes.
