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Myobatrachidae, commonly known as Australian ground frogs or Australian water frogs, is a family of frogs found in Australia and New Guinea. Members of this family vary greatly in size, from species less than long, to the second-largest frog in Australia, the giant barred frog ( Mixophyes iteratus), at in length. The entire family is either terrestrial or aquatic animal frogs, with no arboreal species.
While many species are adapted to burrowing, helping them survive in semiarid or seasonally arid environments, the turtle frog and sandhill frog go so far as to lay their eggs directly into moist sand several feet below the surface, rather than into water. These species lack , with the eggs hatching directly into miniature frogs.
These frogs lack adhesive toe discs found in the . The family is broken into subfamilies based mainly upon their egg-laying habits. Those of the subfamily Limnodynastinae lay foam nests. The female creates foam by agitating a chemical on her skin with her hands. The foam may float on top of water, or be on land. The subfamily Rheobatrachinae contains the two species of gastric-brooding frogs, and the rest are within the subfamily Myobatrachinae.
Taxonomy
The following genera are recognised in the family Myobatrachidae. Some taxonomists split these genera into two subfamilies, Myobatrachinae and Rheobatrachinae, while other sources include Limnodynastinae as a subfamily of Myobatrachidae.
Western ground froglets Anstisia Arenophryne Assa Crinia Geocrinia Metacrinia Mixophyes Myobatrachus Paracrinia Pseudophryne † Rheobatrachus Spicospina Taudactylus Uperoleia
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