Hyloidea Temporal range:
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Eleutherodactylus jasperi | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Anura |
Suborder: | Neobatrachia |
Superfamily: | Hyloidea Stannius, 1856 |
Families | |
See text |
Hyloidea is a superfamily of frogs.[1] Hyloidea accounts for 54% of all living anuran species.[2] The superfamily Hyloidea branched off from its closest relative, the Australobatrachia, during the mid-Cretaceous.[3] The fossil evidence found during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event could not determine the effects upon the frogs, due to the lack of fossils. Increased forestation erupted after this extinction, possibly leading to more arboreal adaptations of these anurans to be best suited for this habitat.[4]
Hyloidea contains the following subgroups:[1][5][6]
Anurans all share a number of morphological characteristics, so researchers have had to use DNA testing to understand their relationships. ML and Bayesian analyses using a nuclear marker toolkit have resolved some of the relations of the anurans in Hyloidea. 53 out of the 55 previously established nodes on the phylogenetic tree were supported by this DNA testing.[2] Analysis supports the Hyloidea being the sister group to the Australobatrachia, a clade of frogs containing species in Chile, Australia, and New Guinea. The common ancestor of both groups inhabited South America during the Early Cretaceous.[7]
It's believed that Hyloidea first evolved on the Gondwanan supercontinent in what is now southern South America, then spread throughout the world.[11][12] Today, they can be found in every continent except Antarctica, although in 2020 a roughly 40 million year old fossil from the hyloid family Calyptocephalellidae was discovered on Seymour Island in the Antarctic Peninsula.[13] The distribution of Hyloidea species is highly correlated with climate, with most species found in areas with higher annual mean temperatures.[14]
As of February 2021, out of the 3161 species of Hyloidea represented on the IUCN Red List, 361 were listed as critically endangered (11.4%), 475 as endangered (15%), and 310 as vulnerable (9.8%).[15] Overall, one of the greatest threats to Hyloidea species is habitat loss due to agriculture.[15]