Hylodidae Explained

Hylodidae, commonly known as giant Neotropical torrent frogs, is a family of frogs native to Brazil and northern Argentina.^{[1] [2] [3]} Phylogenetic evidence suggests the Hylodidae being the sister group to the Alsodidae.^[4]

Megaelosia goeldii is one species that lost the ability to produce vocalizations which in turn is denoted as mute. Through observation of aggressive interactions, it was found that the species' vocal sacs are used for one form of its visual signaling and communication. ^[5]

Diversity

The family contains 48 species in four genera:^{[1] [2]}

• Crossodactylus A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1841 (13 species)
• Hylodes Fitzinger, 1826 (26 species)
• Megaelosia Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923 (one species)
• Phantasmarana Vittorazzi, Augusto-Alves, Neves-da-Silva, Carvalho-e-Silva, Recco-Pimentel, Toledo, Lourenço & Bruschi, 2021 (eight species)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hylodidae Günther, 1858 . Frost, Darrel R. . Darrel R. Frost . 2015 . Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 . American Museum of Natural History . 28 April 2015.
2. Web site: Hylodidae . 2015 . AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application] . Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb . 28 April 2015.
3. Blackburn, D.C. . species:David C. Blackburn . Wake, D.B. . David B. Wake . Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness . Zootaxa. 3148. 2011. 39–55. 10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.8 .
4. Web site: Hylodidae Günther, 1858 Amphibian Species of the World . 2022-09-11 . amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org.
5. Augusto-Alves. Guilherme. Dena. Simone A.. Toledo. Luís F.. species:Luís Felipe Toledo . 2018. Visual communication and aggressive behaviour in a giant mute torrent-frog, Megaelosia apuana (Anura; Hylodidae). Amphibia-Reptilia. 39. 2. 260–264. 10.1163/15685381-20181000. 0173-5373.