Amphibia

Vertebrates –> Amphibia

Class: Amphibia

The purpose of this page is to collect information on Amphibians as it relates to which ones may have been on the Ark and the species available today.

Study of Amphibian Kinds within Orders Caudata (salamanders and Newts) and Gymnophiona (Caecilians) — Tom Hennigan, 2013

  • This study produced an initial estimate of the number of Ark kinds for these two orders to be 54.  Two of each would result in 108 total animals.  As far as I can tell none of these would be considered “clean” (kosher).
  • Something to investigate would the be size, food requirements, how well these interact? (are any natural predators of others), care requirements, etc.

An Initial Estimate toward Identifying and Numbering the Frog Kinds on the Ark: Order Anura — Tom Hennigan, 2013

  • Initial Estimate from study is 140 kinds of frogs/toads on the ark.  Frogs and toads are not considered kosher, so only 2 of each kind would have been required for a total of 280 frog/toads on the ark.

Estimates on Number of Extant Species

According to AmphibiaWeb (http://amphibiaweb.org/amphibian/speciesnums.html) there are a total of 7,259 amphibian species on April 25, 2014. OF these,

  • 6,398 (Order Anura: frogs and toads)
  • 661 (Order: Caudata: salamanders)
  • 200 (Order: Gymnophiona: caecilians, i.e. everything else)

Current thought is that the created kind is somewhere between the human taxonomy system levels of genus and family.

5 orders
81 families identified thus far

Order: Aistopoda (extinct)

  • Family: Phlegethontiidae
    • Genus: Phlegethontia
      • Species: Phlegethontia linearis, Phlegethontia longissima, Sillerpeton permianum

Order: Allocaudata (extinct)

  • Family: Albanerpetontidae
    • Genus: AlbanerpetonGenus: Anoualerpeton
      • Albanerpeton nexuosus
    • Genus: Celtedens, Wesserpeton

Order: Anura (extant, toads and frogs)

approx 3400 species

  • Family: Ascaphidae — tailed frog
  • Family: Hylidae
    • Genus: Acris
      • Acris crepitans — Northern Cricket Frog
      • Acris gryllus — Southern Cricket Frog
    • Genus: Hyla
      • Hyla avivoca — Bird-voiced Treefrog
      • Hyla chrysoscelis — Cope’s Gray Treefrog
      • Hyla cinerea — Green Treefrog
      • Hyla femoralis — Pine Woods Treefrog
      • Hyla gratiosa — Barking Treefrog
      • Hyla squirella — Squirrel Treefrog
    • Genus: Pseudacris
      • Pseudacris brachyphona — Mountain Chorus Frog
      • Pseudacris crucifer — Spring Peeper
      • Pseudacris feriarum — Upland Chorus Frog
      • Pseudacris nigrita — Southern Chorus Frog
      • Pseudacris ocularis — Little Grass Frog
      • Pseudacris ornata — Ornate Chorus Frog
  • Family: Leptodactylidae —  narrow-toed toads
  • Family: Microhylidae
    • Genus: Gastrophryne
      • Gastrophryne carolinensis — Eastern Narrowmouth Toad
  • Family: Pelobatidae
    • Genus: Scaphiopus
      • Scaphiopus holbrookii — Eastern Spadefoot Toad
  • Family: Ranidae
    • Genus: Rana
      • Rana capito — Gopher Frog
      • Rana catesbeiana — Bullfrog
      • Rana clamitans — Green Frog / Bronze Frog
      • Rana grylio — Pig Frog
      • Rana hecksheri — River Frog
      • Rana palustris — Pickerel Frog
      • Rana sphenocephala — Southern Leopard Frog
      • Rana sylvatica — Wood Frog
      • Rana virgatipes — Carpenter Frog

Order: Caudata (extant, salamanders)

approx. 340 species

  • Family: Ambystomatidae
    • Genus: Ambrystoma
      • Ambystoma cingulatum — Flatwoods Salamander
      • Ambystoma maculatum — Spotted Salamander
      • Ambystoma opacum — Marbled Salamander
      • Ambystoma talpoideum — Mole Salamander
      • Ambystoma tigrinum — Eastern Tiger Salamander
  • Family: Amphiumidae
    • Genus: Amphiuma
      • Amphiuma means — Two-toed Amphiuma
      • Amphiuma pholeter — One-toed Amphiuma
  • Family: Cryptobranchidae
    • Cryptobranchus — alleganiensis Hellbender
  • Family: Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders)
  • Family: Proteidae (Necturidae)
    • Necturus cf. beyeri — Alabama Waterdog
    • Necturus maculosus — Mudpuppy or Waterdog
    • Necturus punctatus — Dwarf Waterdog
  • Family: Salamandridae
    • Notophthalmus perstriatus — Striped Newt
    • Notophthalmus viridescens — Eastern Newt
  • Family: Sirenidae
    • Pseudobranchus striatus — Dwarf Siren
    • Siren intermedia — Lesser Siren
    • Siren lacertina — Greater Siren

Order: Gymnophiona (extant, caecilians)

Encyclopedia Brittanica

  • Family: Rhinatrematidae
    • 2 genera, 11 species; South America
  • Family: Ichthyophiidae
    • 3 genera, 50 species; South and Southeast Asia
  • Family: Scolecomorphidae
    • 2 genera, 6 species; Africa
  • Family: Herpelidae
    • 2 genera, 9 species; Africa
  • Family: Chikilidae
    • 1 genus, 3 species; India
  • Family: Caeciliidae
    • 2 genera, 42 species; South and Central America
  • Family: Typhlonectidae
    • 5 genera, 13 species; South America
  • Family: Indotyphlidae
    • 7 genera, 21 species; Seychelles, India, Africa
  • Family: Siphonopidae
    • 7 genera, 19 species; South America
  • Family: Dermophiidae
    • 4 genera, 13 species; Africa, Central and South America