Mantellidae
Encyclopedia
Mantellidae is a family
of the order
Anura. These frogs are found only in Madagascar
and Mayotte
.
The habits, habitat and appearance of these frogs are widely variable. Most species are terrestrial, though some are arboreal (the genus Boophis
is morphologically simiar to the tree frog
s) or aquatic. Body size ranges from 3 to 10 centimetres in length. The genus Mantella
has many similarities with the South American poison dart frog
s. They are small, aposematically coloured, and secrete alkaloid toxins.
Some members of this group are kept in captivity as pet frogs.
Apart from the genera
assigned to the three subfamilies, there is one genus whose placement is still rather uncertain:
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Anura. These frogs are found only in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and Mayotte
Mayotte
Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
.
The habits, habitat and appearance of these frogs are widely variable. Most species are terrestrial, though some are arboreal (the genus Boophis
Boophis
Boophis is a frog genus in the family Mantellidae. Like other frogs of their family, they are small, toxic, arboreal, and colorful. They have adaptations simiar to the unrelated tree frogs...
is morphologically simiar to the tree frog
Tree frog
Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semi-aquatic.-Characteristics:...
s) or aquatic. Body size ranges from 3 to 10 centimetres in length. The genus Mantella
Mantella
Mantella is a genus of frogs in the family Mantellidae, endemic to Madagascar. These are small frogs typically reaching , with iridescent colors with combinations of black, blue, orange, yellow, and green which reflect the toxic nature of their skins...
has many similarities with the South American poison dart frog
Poison dart frog
Poison dart frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. These species are diurnal and often have brightly-colored bodies...
s. They are small, aposematically coloured, and secrete alkaloid toxins.
Some members of this group are kept in captivity as pet frogs.
Apart from the genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
assigned to the three subfamilies, there is one genus whose placement is still rather uncertain:
- Tsingymantis Glaw, Hoegg & Vences, 2006