Boophis is the only genus in the mantellid frog subfamily Boophinae. They are commonly known as bright-eyed or skeleton frogs. They show typical 'tree frog' traits, and are a good example of convergent evolution with morphologically similar species in the families Hylidae and Rhacophoridae, among others. This genus can only be found on Madagascar and Mayotte Island (Comoros).
Taxonomy The genus Boophis was described by Johann Jakob von Tschudi in 1838. It was originally considered a member of the African-Asian family Rhacophoridae, but was moved to the family Mantellidae in 2001, into its own subfamily, Boophinae Vences & Glaw, 2001.
Morphology Boophis are arboreal frogs, exhibiting many traits that define 'tree frogs', such as expanded toe discs, long hindlimbs, and large kind eyes. Boophis are especially characterised by bright colouration of the iris, which is typically intricately patterned towards its inside, and often green or blue, but occasionally also red, purple, or yellow in the outer iris area. This has led to the vernacular name of bright-eyed frogs for the genus. Many species of Boophis have almost translucent skin, allowing bones and internal organs to be observed as in the unrelated glass frogs (Centrolenidae) of the tropical Americas. This has led to the vernacular name skeleton frogs for some members of the genus.
Species The genus has nearly 80 species; new ones are being described every few months on average. This list may not be exhaustive.
Boophis albilabris (Boulenger, 1888) Boophis albipunctatus Glaw & Thiesmeier, 1993 Boophis andohahela Andreone, Nincheri & Piazza, 1995 Boophis andrangoloaka (Ahl, 1928) Boophis andreonei Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis anjanaharibeensis Andreone, 1996 Boophis ankarafensis Penny, Andreone, Crottini, Holderied, Rakotozafy, Schwitzer & Rosa, 2014 Boophis ankaratra Andreone, 1993 Boophis arcanus Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis archeri Vences et al., 2024 Boophis axelmeyeri Vences, Andreone & Veities, 2005 Boophis baetkei J. Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2008 Boophis blommersae Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis boehmei Glaw & Vences, 1992 Boophis boppa Hutter, Lambert, Andriampenomanana & Vences, 2015 Boophis bottae Vences & Glaw, 2002 Boophis brachychir Boettger, 1882 Boophis burnhamae Vences et al., 2024 Boophis burgeri Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis calcaratus Vallan, Vences & Glaw, 2010 Boophis doulioti Angel, 1934 Boophis elenae Andreone, 1993 Boophis englaenderi Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis entingae Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis erythrodactylus (Guibé, 1953) Boophis fayi J. Köhler, Glaw, Rosa, Gehring, Pabijan, Andreone & Vences, 2011 Boophis feonnyala Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 Boophis goudotii Tschudi, 1838 Boophis guibei (McCarthy, 1978) Boophis haematopus Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 Boophis haingana Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis idae (Steindachner, 1867) Boophis jaegeri Glaw & Vences, 1992 – Green Skeleton Frog Boophis janewayae Vences et al., 2024 Boophis kirki Vences et al., 2024 Boophis laurenti Guibé, 1947 Boophis liami Vallan, Vences & Glaw, 2003 Boophis lichenoides Vallan, Glaw, Andreone & Cadle, 1998 Boophis lilianae J. Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2008 Boophis luciae Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis luteus (Boulenger, 1882) Boophis madagascariensis (W. Peters, 1874) Boophis majori (Boulenger, 1896) Boophis mandraka Blommers-Schlösser, 1979 Boophis marojezensis Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis masoala Glaw, Scherz, Prötzel & Vences, 2018 Boophis miadana Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis microtympanum (Boettger, 1881) Boophis miniatus (Mocquard, 1902) Boophis narinsi Vences, Gehara, J. Köhler & Glaw, 2012 Boophis nauticus Glaw, Hawlitschek, K. Glaw & Vences, 2019 Boophis obscurus (Boettger, 1913) Boophis occidentalis Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis opisthodon (Boulenger, 1888) Boophis pauliani (Guibé, 1953) Boophis periegetes Cadle, 1995 Boophis picardi Vences et al., 2024 Boophis picturatus Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 Boophis pikei Vences et al., 2024 Boophis piperatus Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis popi J. Köhler, Glaw, Rosa, Gehring, Pabijan, Andreone & Vences, 2011 Boophis praedictus Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis pyrrhus Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 Boophis quasiboehmei Vences, J. Köhler, Crottini & Glaw, 2010 Boophis rappiodes (Ahl, 1928) Boophis reticulatus Blommers-Schlösser, 1979 Boophis rhodoscelis (Boulenger, 1882) Boophis roseipalmatus Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis rufioculis Glaw & Vences, 1997 Boophis sambirano Vences & Glaw, 2005 Boophis samuelsabini Basham, Masotti, Jimenez, Razafitsimialona, Andrianatenaina, Rakotoarison, Glaw, Wright & Vences, 2026 Boophis sandrae Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis schuboeae Glaw & Vences, 2002 Boophis septentrionalis Glaw & Vences, 1994 Boophis sibilans Glaw & Thiesmeier, 1993 Boophis siskoi Vences et al., 2024 Boophis solomaso Vallan, Vences & Glaw, 2003 Boophis spinophis Glaw, J. Köhler, De la Riva, Vieites & Vences, 2010 Boophis tampoka J. Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2007 Boophis tasymena Vences & Glaw, 2002 Boophis tephraeomystax (A.H.A. Duméril, 1853) Boophis tsilomaro Vences, Andreone, Glos & Glaw, 2010 Boophis ulftunni Wollenberg, Andreone, Glaw & Vences, 2008 Boophis viridis Blommers-Schlösser, 1979 Boophis vittatus Glaw, Vences, Andreone & Vallan, 2001 Boophis williamsi (Guibé, 1974) Boophis xerophilus Glaw & Vences, 1997
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Boophis.
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