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List of amphibians of South Africa

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Thislist of amphibians of South Africa containsspecies that form a part of the classAmphibia (phylumChordata)fauna of South Africa. The list follows theSouth African National Bioinformatics Institute listing.

Amphibians areectothermic,anamniotic,four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute theclassAmphibia. In its broadest sense, it is aparaphyletic group encompassing alltetrapods, but excluding theamniotes (tetrapods with anamniotic membrane, such as modernreptiles,birds andmammals). Allextant (living) amphibians belong to themonophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three livingorders: Anura (frogs andtoads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostlysemiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety ofhabitats, with most species living infreshwater,wetland orterrestrial ecosystems (such asriparian woodland,fossorial and evenarboreal habitats). Theirlife cycle typically starts out asaquatic larvae withgills known astadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.

Young amphibians generally undergometamorphosis from an aquatic larval form with gills to an air-breathing adult form withlungs. Amphibiansuse their skin as a secondary respiratory interface, and some small terrestrialsalamanders and frogs even lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar toreptiles likelizards, but unlike reptiles and otheramniotes, require access to water bodies to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are oftenecological indicators to habitat conditions; in recent decades there has been a dramaticdecline in amphibian populations for many species around the globe.

The earliest amphibiansevolved in theDevonian period fromtetrapodomorph sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish witharticulated limb-likefins) that evolved primitive lungs, which were helpful in adapting to dry land. They diversified and became ecologically dominant during theCarboniferous andPermian periods, but were later displaced in terrestrial environments by early reptiles andbasal synapsids (predecessors of mammals). The origin of modern lissamphibians, which first appeared during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago, has long been contentious. The most popular hypothesis is that they likely originated fromtemnospondyls, the most diverse group of prehistoric amphibians, during the Permian period. Another hypothesis is that they emerged from lepospondyls. A fourth group of lissamphibians, theAlbanerpetontidae, became extinct around 2 million years ago.

The number of known amphibian species is approximately 8,000, of which nearly 90% are frogs. The smallest amphibian (and vertebrate) in the world is a frog fromNew Guinea (Paedophryne amauensis) with a length of just 7.7 mm (0.30 in). The largest living amphibian is the 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)South China giant salamander (Andrias sligoi), but this is dwarfed by prehistoric temnospondyls such asMastodonsaurus which could reach up to 6 m (20 ft) in length. The study of amphibians is calledbatrachology, while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is calledherpetology. (Full article...)

Where common names are given, they are not the only common names in use for the species.

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Anura

Arthroleptidae

Brevicipitidae

Bufonidae

Heleophrynidae

Hemisotidae

Hyperoliidae

Microhylidae

Phrynobatrachidae

Pipidae

Ptychadenidae

Pyxicephalidae

Ranidae

Rhacophoridae

Notes

References