Pipidae
Pipidae
Pipidae includes a group of primitive aquatic frogs with an unmistakable appearance commonly called clawed frogs . There are 2 species in Peru ; 1 in the Madre de Dios department and Manu region of which we include 1 species in this guide . Their body is flattened and they are the only frogs that lack a tongue . However , their throat cartilages are modified and they still can produce a clicking call . They have a lateral line system ( like fish ) that is used to feel movement and vibrations in the water . Their eyes are small and located on top of the head .
This family is distributed in South America , Panama and Sub-Saharan Africa . They are the most ancient group of living frogs , having been around for around 140 millions of years . The most famous species of the family is the African clawed frog ( Xenopus laevis ), which has been widely used in research as a model organism . The Neotropical genus Pipa has a complex reproduction system , involving aquatic acrobatics during the amplexus , and the development of the embryos in the back of the female . There are some Pipa species with tadpole phase but in others they hatch as small froglets directly from the egg .
Pipa pipa