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List of amphibians of South Africa

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This list of amphibians of South Africa contains species that form a part of the class Amphibia (phylum Chordata) fauna of South Africa. The list follows the South African National Bioinformatics Institute listing.

Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane, such as modern reptiles, birds and mammals). All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs and toads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland, fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.

Young amphibians generally undergo metamorphosis from an aquatic larval form with gills to an air-breathing adult form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory interface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards, but unlike reptiles and other amniotes, require access to water bodies to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators to habitat conditions; in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline in amphibian populations for many species around the globe.

The earliest amphibians evolved in the Devonian period from tetrapodomorph sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish with articulated limb-like fins) that evolved primitive lungs, which were helpful in adapting to dry land. They diversified and became ecologically dominant during the Carboniferous and Permian periods, but were later displaced in terrestrial environments by early reptiles and basal 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 from temnospondyls, the most diverse group of prehistoric amphibians, during the Permian period. Another hypothesis is that they emerged from lepospondys. A fourth group of lissamphibians, the Albanerpetontidae, 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 from New 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 as Mastodonsaurus which could reach up to 6 m (20 ft) in length. The study of amphibians is called batrachology, while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology. (Full article...)

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

Anura

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Order Anura – frogs and toads

Arthroleptidae

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Family Arthroleptidae

Brevicipitidae

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Family Brevicipitidae

Bufonidae

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Family Bufonidae

Heleophrynidae

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Family Heleophrynidae

Hemisotidae

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Family Hemisotidae

Hyperoliidae

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Family Hyperoliidae

Microhylidae

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Family Microhylidae

Phrynobatrachidae

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Family Phrynobatrachidae

Pipidae

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Family Pipidae

  • Genus Xenopus:[1]
    • Xenopus gilli Rose & Hewitt, 1927, Cape clawed toad, syn. Xenopus laevis gilli, Xenopus gilli Rose and Hewitt, 1927, endemic
    • Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802), African clawed frog, syn. Bufo laevis, endemic
    • Xenopus muelleri (Peters, 1844), Muller's clawed frog, syn. Dactylethra muelleri, endemic

Ptychadenidae

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Family Ptychadenidae

Pyxicephalidae

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Family Pyxicephalidae

Ranidae

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Family Ranidae

Rhacophoridae

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Family Rhacophoridae

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae "Checklist of South African Chordata, Class Amphibia. Animal checklist website". South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
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