What is "leptodactylidae"

Leptodactylidae \Leptodactylidae\ n. [See leptodactyl.] A natural family of New World frogs; in some classifications it is essentially coextensive with the family Bufonidae.

Syn: family Leptodactylidae.

The southern frogs form Leptodactylidae, a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cretaceous. The family has undergone major taxonomic revisions in recent years, including the reclassification of the former subfamily Eleutherodactylinae into its own family Eleutherodactylidae; Leptodactylidae now numbers 206 species in 15 genera distributed throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The family includes terrestrial, burrowing, aquatic, and arboreal members, inhabiting a wide range of different habitats.

Several of the genera within Leptodactylidae lay their eggs in foam nests. These can be in crevices, on the surface of water, or on forest floors. These foam nests are some of the most varied among frogs. When eggs hatch in nests on the forest floor, the tadpoles remain within the nest, without eating, until metamorphosis.