| Brevicipitidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cape rain frog (Breviceps gibbosus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Clade: | Afrobatrachia |
| Family: | Brevicipitidae Bonaparte, 1850 |
| Type genus | |
| Breviceps Merrem, 1820 | |
| Type species | |
| Rana gibbosa | |
| Genera | |
|
See text. | |
Brevicipitidae or rain frogs are a family of frog species. They live in eastern and southern Africa. As of 2020, scientists say there are 37 species in 5 genera in Brevicipitidae. Scientists used to think of Brevicipitidae as a subfamily in the family Microhylidae (narrow-mouth frogs). By studying phylogenetics, the scientists changed their minds. Now they think brevicipitine frogs are their own family. Their closest relatives are the frogs in family Hemisotidae (shovelnose frogs).
Most adult brevicipitine frogs are not easy to see. They dig into the soil or dead leaves. Sometimes, some of these frogs climb trees. In most of these frogs, the adult female frog is much bigger than the adult male frog.
The frogs in Breviceps and Probreviceps do direct development. That means their eggs hatch into in small frogs. They are never tadpoles. When it is time for the male frog to fertilize the female frog's eggs, frogs in Breviceps glue themselves together using sticky chemicals from the holocrine glands on their bellies and backs. The frogs lay small clutches of 13–56 eggs (4–8 mm diameter not including the protective capsule). Sometimes, the frog digs a burrow, or hole, for the eggs. In some species, one parent stays near the eggs.