Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Search tool	Example of search string in box	What that means to the database
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	Hyl*	Will find all uses of "Hyl . . ." anywhere in a record: e.g., Hylarana, Hyla, Hylidae, Hylinae, Hylaedactyla.
* = "wildcard". Allows a partial letter string to be entered and implies either no or various extension on this letter string	*Hyla	Will find all uses of ". . . hyla" anywhere in a record: e.g., Hyla, Hylidae, Plectrohyla, Ptychadena hylaea, Adenomera hylaedactyla
Single word	Hyla	Will find all records that contain stand-alone uses of Hyla: e.g., Hyla, Hyla arenicolor
Strings of words without quotation marks	Lithobates pipiens	Interprets this as "Lithobates OR pipiens" so will find the union of all records that contain either "Lithobates" or "pipiens": e.g., Lithobates omiltemanus, Hylorana pipiens
Strings of word with quotation marks	"Lithobates pipiens"	Interprets this as "Lithobates AND pipiens" so will return all records that have the character string "Lithobates pipiens" anywhere within a record: e.g., all members of the Lithobates pipiens complex.
AND statement. Means that the results of the search must include both words held together by an AND	Lithobates AND pipiens	Same as "Lithobates pipiens"
OR statement. Means that the results of the search will all records that have either of the terms held together by an OR	Lithobates OR "Costa Rica"	Recovers all records that contain the word "Lithobates" or "Costa Rica": 402 records inasmuch as this will include all records for the entire amphibian fauna of Costa Rica
Combining Boolean operators within the Basic Search box (AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks)	Lithobates AND "Costa Rica" NOT forreri	Recovers only records that contain the word Lithobates AND "Costa Rica", but excludes any record that contains the word "forreri" in any part of the record: 9 records
Printable HELP file

Limnodynastes Fitzinger, 1843

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Superfamily: Myobatrachoidea > Family: Limnodynastidae > Genus: Limnodynastes

13 species

Limnodynastes Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 31. Type species: Cystignathus peronii Duméril and Bibron, 1841, by original designation.

Wagleria Girard, 1853, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 6: 421. Type species: Not designated; Cystignathus peronii Duméril and Bibron, 1841, by subsequent designation of Gorham, 1966, Das Tierreich, 85: 140. Synonymy by Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 32.

Lymnodynastes — Cope, 1865, Nat. Hist. Rev., N.S., 5: 113. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Heliorana Steindachner, 1867, Reise Österreichischen Fregatte Novara, Zool., Amph.: 32. Type species: Heliorana grayi Steindachner, 1867, by monotypy. Synonymy by Günther, 1867, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 3, 20: 54; Günther, 1868, Zool. Rec., 4: 145; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 258; Nieden, 1923, Das Tierreich, 46: 528.

Ranaster Macleay, 1878, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 2: 135. Type species: Ranaster convexiusculus Macleay, 1878, by monotypy. Synonymy by Parker, 1940, Novit. Zool., 42: 42. Resurrected; without discussion, by Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 4; 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).

Megistolotis Tyler, Martin, and Davies, 1979, Aust. J. Zool., 27: 136. Type species: Megistolotis lignarius Tyler, Martin, and Davies, 1979, by original designation. Synonymy by Schäuble, Moritz, and Slade, 2000, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 16: 379.

Common Names

Australian Swamp Frogs (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 94).

Flat-headed Toadlets (Megistolitis [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 94).

Woodworker Frogs (Megistolitis [no longer recognized]: Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 104).

Distribution

Australia and southern New Guinea.

Comment

The most recent generic reviews are by Parker, 1940, Novit. Zool., 42: 42, and Lynch, 1971, Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas, 53: 86. Morescalchi and Ingram, 1978, Experientia, 34: 584–585, reported on comparative karyology, in the sense of including what is now Platyplectrum. Roberts and Maxson, 1986, Aust. J. Zool., 34: 561–573, reported on immunological relationships among the species. Hutchinson and Maxson, 1987, Syst. Zool., 36: 387–414, suggested that Limnodynastes was paraphyletic with respect to Megistolotis. See Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2, for keys and accounts for Australian species. Schäuble, Moritz, and Slade, 2000, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 16: 379–391, discussed the phylogenetic relationships of the species and recognized four species groups: the Limnodynastes ornatus group (Limnodynastes ornatus and Limnodynastes spenceri), the Limnodynastes personii group (Limnodynastes peronii, Limnodynastes tasmaniensis, Limnodynastes fletcheri, Limnodynastes depressus), the Limnodynastes salmini group (Limnodynastes salmini, Limnodynastes convexiusculus, Limnodynastes lignarius), and the Limnodynastes dorsalis group (Limnodynastes dorsalis, Limnodynastes terraereginae, Limnodynastes dumerilii, Limnodynastes interioris). Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 195, recognized the Limnodynastes ornatus group as the genus Opisthodon (now Platyplectrum) in order to prevent the polyphyly of Limnodynastes, provided a partial estimate of the phylogeny of Limnodynastes, and noted Heleioporus as the sister taxon of Limnodynastes. Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543–583, confirmed the monophyly of the taxon and provided a tree of their molecular exemplars. Cogger, 2018, Rept. Amph. Australia, 7th ed.: 45–53, provided brief accounts, identification key, photographs, and polygon distribution maps of the Australian species. Parkin, Rowley, Gillard, Sopniewski, Shea, and Donnellan, 2024, Ichthyol. & Herpetol., 112: 76–105, revised the systematics and taxonomy of the Limnodynastes dorsalis group in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania, with substantial discussion of relevant topics.

Contained taxa (13 sp.):

Limnodynastes convexiusculus (Macleay, 1878)

Limnodynastes depressus Tyler, 1976

Limnodynastes dorsalis (Gray, 1841)

Limnodynastes dumerilii Peters, 1863

Limnodynastes fletcheri Boulenger, 1888

Limnodynastes grayi (Steidachner, 1867)

Limnodynastes interioris Fry, 1913

Limnodynastes lignarius (Tyler, Martin, and Davies, 1979)

Limnodynastes peronii (Duméril and Bibron, 1841)

Limnodynastes salmini Steindachner, 1867

Limnodynastes superciliaris (Keferstein, 1867)

Limnodynastes tasmaniensis Günther, 1858

Limnodynastes terraereginae Fry, 1915

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