Ranoidea Tschudi, 1838

Common Names

Striped Burrowing Frogs (Cyclorana [no longer recognized]: Cogger, 1975, Rept. Amph. Australia: 49).

Water-holding Frogs (Cyclorana [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 52).

Distribution

Australia, New Guinea, Moluccas, and Louisiade Archipelago. 

Comment

Removed from the synonymy of Litoria by Duellman, Marion, and Hedges, 2016, Zootaxa, 4104: 40, where it had been placed by Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 30 (as Hyla). Resurrected; without discussion, by Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 5. See Tyler, 1985, Herpetol. Rev., 16: 69; Australian Society of Herpetologists, 1987, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 44: 116–121; Tyler, 1988, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 45: 152; Holthius, 1988, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 45 and decision by ICZN (Anonymous, 1991, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 48: 337–338). McDonald and Davies, 1990, Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust., 114: 149, provided a key to the members of the former Litoria citropa species group, and Donnellan, McGuigan, Knowles, Mahony, and Moritz, 1999, Aust. J. Zool., 47: 275–293, reported on genetic evidence for species boundaries in the former Litoria citropa group. Pelodryas was recognized by Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 5, following Savage, 1986, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 99: 42–45, who recognized this genus for of the former Litoria caerulea group on the basis of evidence provided by Tyler and Davies, 1978, Aust. J. Zool., Suppl. Ser., 27 (63): 1–47. Use of Pelodryas has not generally been followed by other Australian herpetologists.  Cunningham, 2002, Mem. Queensland Mus., 48: 93–102, discussed the phylogenetics of the Litoria nannotis group: Litoria rheocola (Litoria nyakalensis (Litoria lorica, Litoria nannotis)). Species groups noted in the species accounts of both Litoria and Dryopsophus, both of which were in Litoria at the time were defined by Tyler and Davies, 1978, Aust. J. Zool., Suppl. Ser., 27 (63): 1–47. Papuan species were reviewed (as Hyla) by Tyler, 1968, Zool. Verh., Leiden, 96: 1–203; Australian state checklists provided by Tyler, 1989, Aust. Frogs. Tyler, 1982, in Newman (ed.), New Zealand Wildlife Serv. Occas Publ., 2: 103–112, provided a general summary of Litoria (sensu lato) systematics. Data presented by Sumida, Allison, and Nishioka, 1998, Japan. J. Herpetol., 17: 164–174, suggested a number of cryptic species in New Guinea (as Litoria). Menzies and Tyler, 2004, Aust. J. Zool., 52: 290, noted that the affinities of Litoria aruensis are enigmatic, thereby implying a lack of confidence in the reality of the Litoria aruensis group (= Litoria gracilenta group according to Menzies and Tyler, 2004, Aust. J. Zool., 52: 203); these authors (p. 203) redelimited the Litoria gracilenta group to include Litoria gracilenta, Litoria aruensis, Litoria elkae, Litoria kumae, and Litoria auae, and placed Litoria chloris, Litoria graminea, Litoria multiplica, and Litoria xanthomera into the Litoria chloris group. Anstis, Price, Roberts, Catalano, Hines, Doughty, and Donnellan, 2016, Zootaxa, 4126: 451–479, provided a revision of Cyclorana, without documenting how recognizing this taxon would render Ranoidea paraphyletic; I retain these species in Ranoidea (DRF). 

Contained taxa (72 sp.):

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