Cyclorana is a genus of frogs in the family Pelodryadidae, whose members are found in most of Australia. It was formerly considered a separate genus, but reclassified following a major revision by Frost et al. in 2006Darrel R. Frost, Taran Grant, Julia´ N Faivovich, Raoul H. Bain, Alexander Haas, Ce´ Lio F.B. Haddad, Rafael O. De Sa´ , Alan Channing, Mark Wilkinson, Stephen C. Donnellan, Christopher J. Raxworthy, Jonathan A. Campbell, Boris L. Blotto, Paul Moler, Robert C. Drewes, Ronald A. Nussbaum, John D. Lynch, David M. Green, And Ward C. Wheeler, 2006, The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 297: 362 , before being reclassified as a separate genus again in 2025. Although classified as Australo-Papuan tree frogs, Cyclorana is entirely terrestrial and lacks toe pads, which their arboreal relatives use for climbing.
Cyclorana inhabits some of the most arid zones of Australia. Some species burrow underground and remain dormant for more than 5 years to survive drought conditions. They can store large amounts of water in their bladders, and form a "cocoon" around themselves to reduce loss of water, so are often called "water-holding frogs". They only return to the surface to breed and eat, and normally only after heavy summer rains. Eggs are normally laid in temporary water, and tadpoles develop quickly to metamorphose before the water completely evaporates.
Species Binomial name and author Common name Cyclorana alboguttata Striped burrowing frog Cyclorana australis Giant frog Cyclorana brevipes Short-footed frog Cyclorana cryptotis Hidden-ear frog Cyclorana cultripes Knife-footed frog Cyclorana longipes Long-footed frog Cyclorana maculosa Daly Waters frog Cyclorana maini Main's frog Cyclorana manya Small frog Cyclorana novaehollandiae New Holland frog Cyclorana occidentalis Water-holding frog Cyclorana platycephala Water-holding frog Cyclorana vagitus Wailing frog Cyclorana verrucosa Rough frog
References
External links Frost, Darrel R. 2007. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.1 (10 October 2007). Litoria. Electronic Database accessible at https://web.archive.org/web/20071024033938/http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. (Accessed: May 10, 2008). AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. 2008. Berkeley, California: Cyclorana. AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: May 10, 2008). eol - Encyclopedia of Life taxon Cyclorana at http://www.eol.org. Taxon Cyclorana at https://web.archive.org/web/20160606043808/http://www.itis.gov/index.html. (Accessed: May 10, 2008). GBIF - Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxon Cyclorana at https://web.archive.org/web/20080501142231/http://data.gbif.org/welcome.htm
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