Added January 12 2023.
The Family Alytidae (formerly known as Discoglossidae) are an older group of frogs, belonging to the Archeobatrachia ("old" or "ancient" frogs). They have true ribs, unlike frogs and toads belonging to the Neobatrachia ("new" frogs). The chief distinguishing mark, if it can be called such, of the family is the tongue, which is almost round and also fixed to the floor of the mouth. For this reason it cannot be darted out to catch prey in the manner traditionally associated with anurans.
Europe and adjacent regions (North Africa and Asia Minor) are the main distribution range for these anurans, with one being found in the Middle East.
|
Scientific Name |
Common Name |
No. of Species |
Distribution |
Notes |
|
Midwife Toads |
4 |
Portugal, Spain, Mallorca, France, Belgium, SE Netherlands, Germany (as far east as Harz mtns and W. Thuringia), Switzerland, Morocco |
Noted for the paternal care of the eggs: see species descriptions. |
|
|
Painted Frogs |
6 |
SE France, Corsica, Sardinia, Giglio, Monte Cristo, Illes d'Hyères, Isle of Lavezzi, Italy (Mt Argentario in Tuscany), Malta, North Africa, Palestine. |
|
|
|
Latonia |
Hula Panted Frog |
1 |
Israel |
Recently rediscovered: genus originally described to include several extinct fossil species. |
I would like to acknowledge the crucial part played in this page by Lanka and Vit's Amphibians and Reptiles, from which accounts of the more obscure frogs were sometimes lifted almost verbatim. Any mistakes are my own! Data will be added or corrected in the course of my further reading.
Die Amphibien Europas, Andreas and Christel Nöllert, Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1992. Outstanding nature guide to every species of amphibian found in Europe.
Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa, W Kästle, H H Schleich and K Kabisch, Koeltz Scientific Books, Germany 1996. Outstanding review of N African herpetofauna giving detailed account of each species.
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