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Hylidae

Treefrogs

David Cannatella
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Acris crepitansAgalychnis annae Hyla regilla
Containing group: Neobatrachia

Introduction

Hylids (treefrogs) are one of the largest families of frogs. There are about 37-39 genera. These are arranged in four subfamilies, the first three of which are distinctive: Pelodryadinae, Phyllomedusinae, Hemiphractinae, and Hylinae.

Among the most bizarre hyline frogs are certain casque-headed genera, such as Triprion and Trachycephalus, in which the skull bones are elaborated into a solid helmet. Certain casque-headed species use their bony heads to block the entrances to their burrows and reduce evaporative water loss.

Geographic Distribution

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distribution of living members of the family Hylidae

The distribution of living members of the family Hylidae is indicated in red.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

The name Hylidae was defined by Ford and Cannatella (1993) as node-based name for the most recent ancestor of Hemiphractinae, Phyllomedusinae, Pelodryadinae, and Hylinae, and all of its descendants. The single synapomorphy known is claw-shaped terminal phalanges; these are also found in some hyperoliids (see below). Another commonly mentioned diagnostic feature of hylids is the presence of intercalary elements, but these are also present in centrolenids and pseudids, among the non-ranoid neobatrachians (see below). Savage (1973), Laurent (1979, 1986) and Dubois (1983, 1984) recognized the Australian hylids (Pelodryadinae) as a distinct family.

The monophyly of Hylidae is questionable if Allophryne ruthveni is included. See the account under Allophryne ruthveni.

Other Names for Hylidae

References

Click here for general list of references

Information on the Internet

Title Illustrations
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Acris crepitans
Scientific Name Acris crepitans
Location Louisiana
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1995 David Cannatella
Agalychnis annae
Scientific Name Agalychnis annae
Location Costa Rica
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1995 David Cannatella
Scientific Name Phyllomedusa tomopterna
Location Ecuador
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1995 David Cannatella
Hyla regilla
Scientific Name Hyla regilla
Location California
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1995 David Cannatella
About This Page
If you are interested in authoring or co-authoring the page for this taxon, or some part of it (even a species), contact David Cannatella.

David Cannatella
University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to David Cannatella at

Page: Tree of Life Hylidae. Treefrogs. Authored by David Cannatella. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Cannatella, David. 2006. Hylidae. Treefrogs. Version 24 July 2006 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Hylidae/16950/2006.07.24 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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