Engystomops

Engystomops
Engystomops petersi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Leptodactylidae
Genus:	Engystomops Jiménez de la Espada, 1872
Species
9 (see text)
Synonyms
Microphryne Peters, 1873

Engystomops is a group of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. People call them foam frogs or túngara frogs in English. though the latter name most commonly refers to Engystomops pustulosus. They are native to the Americas from southern Mexico south to the Amazon Basin.

Scientists put this group by itself until 1970, when they made it the same group as Physalaemus. As studies progressed, there was increasing evidence that Physalaemus was not a monophyletic group; it was made up of several groups. Then the scientists studied all the frogs more closely. In 2005, they made Engystomops its own group again because of the shapes of the frogs' bodies and sounds the frogs made, chemicals the frogs made, and other DNA. They put two newly learned-of frog species in the group at that time.

Bodies

These frogs are about 1.5 or 1.6 to 3.5 or 3.8 centimeters long.

These frogs live on the forest floor. They have young in pools of water that dry up for part of the year, sometimes even puddles. They build nests out of bubbles, called foam nests. During mating, the male frog releases sperm while the female releases eggs and a protein-rich fluid. The male moves his legs to turn the fluid into a foam with his feet. The eggs stay safe in the foam. Some of the proteins in the foam are good for keeping other things strong. Scientists thin other chemicals in the foam could kill germs and parasites.

Scientists sometimes study sexual selection and communication in these frogs. For example, the male frogs make nests, which makes the female frogs more likely to choose them.

As of early 2018, there are nine species in this group:

It has been suggested that E. pustulosus is a really two or more species that look the same, and E. petersi may be too.

References