Ranoidea
The Ranoidea are a superfamily of frogs in the order Anura. Members of this superfamily are characterised by having the pectoral girdle fused into a single complex unit, having no ribs, and using an axillary grip during amplexus. The larvae have a single spiracle on the left side and complex mouthparts, or in some species, undergo direct development.[3] The taxonomy of these families has been under heavy debate for many years. In recent studies, molecular data has been used to better identify the phylogentic relationships of these frogs, rearranging and introducing new subfamilies to better distinguish between large groups of frogs (Glaw, Vences, 2001).
This superfamily contains seventeen different families, each containing at least 2 species (some contain over 300 different species).[4][5] (See figure 1).
The family described in this section are based on Vitt & Caldwell (2014)[4] and van der Meijden (2006).[5]
The family of Ranixalidae (leaping frogs) has one genus containing 10 different species. They can be found in central and southern India. They typically reside in leaf litter and in tropical deciduous forests, near streams and can be found between 200 m and 1100 m in altitude.
The family of Mantellidae (Malagasy poison frogs) has 3 different genera with 191 species total. They can be found in Madagascar and Mayotte Island. They are both terrestrial and arboreal frogs and can be found between 800 and 1000 m in altitude.
The family of Rhacophoridae (Afroasian tree frogs) has two subfamilies, 14 genera, and a total of 321 species. They are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and South Asia. They are mainly tree frogs. They have intercalary cartilage[6] between their last two phalanges.
