Abstract
Frogs from Madagascar constitute one of the richest groups of amphibian fauna in the world, with currently 238 described species; caecilians and salamanders are absent [1]. Several frog radiations of the island are species-rich and parallel lemurs and tenrecs in their astonishing morphological and ecological diversity. According to the Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA), Madagascar ranks as the country with the 12th highest amphibian species richness [2,3] (see also http://www.globalamphibians.org), but this is likely an underestimate, because an additional 182 candidate species have been identified since [1]. Diversity is concentrated in rainforests and can locally reach over 100 species. Impressively, 100% of the autochthonous species and 88% of the genera are strictly endemic to Madagascar and its inshore islands [1]. Most of these species belong to two radiations of astonishing ecomorphological and reproductive diversity, the mantellids and the scaphiophrynine plus cophyline microhylids [4,5] (Figure 1).
Highlights
Frogs from Madagascar constitute one of the richest groups of amphibian fauna in the world, with currently 238 described species; caecilians and salamanders are absent [1]
No extinctions of amphibian species have been reported from Madagascar, and chytridiomycosis, a threat for amphibians globally [6,7], has not been detected [8]
Of 220 species assessed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), nine are listed as Critically Endangered, 21 Endangered, and 25 Vulnerable [3]
Summary
Frogs from Madagascar constitute one of the richest groups of amphibian fauna in the world, with currently 238 described species; caecilians and salamanders are absent [1]. No extinctions of amphibian species have been reported from Madagascar, and chytridiomycosis, a threat for amphibians globally [6,7], has not been detected [8]. In Madagascar, amphibian conservation efforts have the possibility of being pro-active, rather than reactive, or postmortem.
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