Saddleback toad

Taxobox
name = Saddleback toads


image_width = 240px
image_caption = Spix’s Saddleback Toad, "Brachycephalus ephippium"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Anura
subordo = Neobatrachia
familia = Brachycephalidae
familia_authority = Günther, 1858
genus = "Brachycephalus"
genus_authority = Fitzinger, 1826
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Brachycephalus alipioi" "Brachycephalus didactylus" "Brachycephalus ephippium" "Brachycephalus ferruginus" "Brachycephalus hermogenesi" "Brachycephalus nodoterga" "Brachycephalus pernix" "Brachycephalus pombali" "Brachycephalus vertebralis"
range_

range_map_caption = Distribution of Brachycephalidae (in black)

The saddleback toads are a family (Brachycephalidae) in the order Anura. The family consist of just one genus, "Brachycephalus", which consists of nine species. These frogs are native to southeastern Brazil.

The saddleback toads are very small frogs, mostly around convert|1|cm|in in length, and include the smallest frog in the southern hemisphere, Izecksohn's Toad ("Brachycephalus didactylus")cite book |editor=Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G.|author= Zweifel, Richard G.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 103|isbn= 0-12-178560-2] . They have only three toes on each foot, and two fingers on each hand. This is in contrast to the usual five toes and four fingers of most frogs.

The saddleback toads are active during the day, and live in the leaf litter on forest floors. The eggs undergo direct development, hatching into miniature frogs, without a tadpole stage. The eggs are laid on the ground, and covered in soil to protect from the heat and predators. Their amplexus method is unusual, in that it begins with inguinal amplexus, with the male holding the female around the waist, and then shifts to axillary amplexus, in which the male grips above the female's arms. Most frogs species only use one technique.

Classification

Family BRACHYCEPHALIDAE
* Genus "Brachycephalus"
** "Brachycephalus alipioi" (Pombal & Gasparini, 2006).
** Izecksohn’s Toad, "Brachycephalus didactylus" (Izecksohn, 1971).
** Spix’s Saddleback Toad, "Brachycephalus ephippium" (Spix, 1824).
** "Brachycephalus ferruginus" (Alves, Ribeiro, Haddad et al., 2006).
** "Brachycephalus hermogenesi" (Giaretta et Sawaya, 1998).
** Serra Cantareira Saddleback Toad, "Brachycephalus nodoterga" (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920).
** "Brachycephalus pernix" (Pombal, Wistuba, et Bornschein, 1998).
** "Brachycephalus pombali" (Alves, Ribeiro, Haddad et al., 2006).
** "Brachycephalus vertebralis" (Pombal, 2001).

References