Hylidae

Hylidae

[′hī·lə‚dē]

(vertebrate zoology)

The tree frogs, a large amphibian family in the suborder Procoela; many are adapted to arboreal life, having expanded digital disks.

Hylidae

 

a family of tailless amphibians, ranging from 2.5 to13.5 cm in length. There are 31 genera, distributed throughoutthe world, chiefly in the tropical regions of North and SouthAmerica and in Australia. Many Hylidae are arboreal. Somespecies reproduce in trees, depositing their eggs in the rainwaterthat accumulates in the axils of leaves, and others, such as thespecies of Phyllomedusa, lay their eggs in curled leaves over-hanging water. The females of the marsupial frogs that inhabitthe tropical regions of the New World have a cutaneous sac(pouch) on the back, where the fertilized eggs are deposited. Insome species the eggs are carried in the sac only during the firststages, and in others they remain there until fully formed. Themost widespread genus is Hyla, comprising 350 species, of whichtwo species, H. arbórea and H. japónica, are encountered in theUSSR. The species H. arbórea is found in the Ukraine, includingthe Crimea, and in the Caucasus. It is up to 5 cm long, and itscolor may change, depending on surroundings. Males have avoice pouch under the skin on the throat that inflates when theycroak. In the spring the female deposits as many as 1,000 eggsin the water.

P. V. TERENT’EV