Leiopelma

▪ amphibian genus

      a genus of small New Zealand frogs (frog) belonging to family Leiopelmatidae (order Anura). There are three known species, and all are 30 to 40 mm (1.2 to 1.6 inches) long.

      They are the only frogs indigenous to New Zealand and are threatened, persisting only along a few streams and seepage areas in native forest. Although lacking vocal sacs (vocal sac), males attract females with a soft call. Females deposit small clutches of eggs (egg) in wet depressions, and the males stand guard. In Leiopelma archeyi and L. hamiltoni, eggs hatch into nonfeeding, large, immobile tadpoles (tadpole) that soon undergo metamorphosis. In L. hochstetteri, more typical tadpoles occur.

      These frogs and Ascaphus, a genus of tailed frogs native to western North America, are the sole survivors of an ancient lineage that likely diverged from other frogs in the Jurassic Period (approximately 145 million to 200 million years ago).

George R. Zug

 

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