| The firebellied toads in the genus Bombina range from France and Italy eastward to Turkey, eastern Russia, China, Korea, and Vietnam. Two species in the genus Barboroula occur in Borneo (western Kalimantan, Indonesia), and the Philippines. Bombina are diurnal (active during the day) and have aposematic coloration on their belly (thus the name "firebellied"). The red, orange, or yellow mottling on the belly is displayed when Bombina arch their bodies backward when threatened, exposing their bright ventral colors and advertising their toxic skin secretions. This arching the back behavior is defensive reflex also found in some salamanders and is known as the "unken reflex". Barboroula are not colorful, are very secretive, and nocturnal (active at night). Firebellied toads are small, aquatic, and vocalize during inhalation (as opposed to exhalation the common method of vocalizations in most living frogs). The vocalization during inhalation is unique to this family among extant anurans. They lay pigmented eggs in ponds. The tadpoles have beaks, two upper and three lower rows of denticles, and a median spiracle (typical Orton Type 3). Barbourula have webbed fingers and webbed toes. Tadpoles of Barbourula are unknown, but both genera have flattened bodies. Fossil Bombina are known from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene; but there are no known fossils of Barbourula. Bombina and Barbourula have usually been placed in the family Discoglossidae, however Cannatella (1985, PhD. dissertation University of Kansas) presented a phylogenetic analysis that indicated the Discoglossidae was paraphyletic. Ford and Cannatella (1993), The major clades of frogs. Herpetological Monographs 7:94-117) formalized this by resurrecting the family Bombinatoridae for Barbourula and Bombina. They considered Bombinatoridae to be the name for the most recent common ancestor of Bombina and Barbourula, and all its descendants. Currently the Bombinatoridae is considered to be the sister of the Alytidae and Discoglossidae and shared an ancestor with them 203 Ma (244-115 Ma). |
