Tailed frog

Tailed frogs
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Suborder:	Archaeobatrachia
Family:	Ascaphidae; Fejérváry, 1923
Genus:	Ascaphus; Stejneger, 1899
Species
	Ascaphus montanus (Mittleman and Myers, 1949); Ascaphus truei (Stejneger, 1899);
	Distribution of Ascaphidae (in black)

The tailed frogs are two species of frogs in the genus Ascaphus,^[1] the only taxon in the family Ascaphidae /æˈskæfɪdiː/.^[2] The "tail" in the name is actually an extension of the male cloaca. The tail is one of two distinctive anatomical features adapting the species to life in fast-flowing streams. These are the only North American frog species that reproduce by internal fertilization.^[3] They are among the most primitive known families of frogs.

Its scientific name means 'without a spade', from the privative prefix a- and the Ancient Greek skaphís (σκαφίς, 'spade, shovel'), referring to the metatarsal spade, which these frogs do not have.^[4]^[5]

^ Frost, Darrel R. (2024). "Ascaphus Stejneger, 1899". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
^ Frost, Darrel R. (2024). "Ascaphidae Fejérváry, 1923". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
^ "Wildlife". Green Diamond Resource Company. Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
^ σκαφίς. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
^ Dodd, C. Kenneth (2013). Frogs of the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4214-0633-6.

[frost-1] Frost, Darrel R. (2024). "Ascaphus Stejneger, 1899". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 2 June 2024.

[2] Frost, Darrel R. (2024). "Ascaphidae Fejérváry, 1923". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 2 June 2024.

[3] "Wildlife". Green Diamond Resource Company. Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2020-07-19.

[4] σκαφίς. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project

[5] Dodd, C. Kenneth (2013). Frogs of the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4214-0633-6.

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