Sooglossidae

All Sooglossidae species are relatively small terrestrial frogs, about 4 cm (1.6 in) in length, hiding under fallen leaves or in rock crevices. They are unusual for the neobatrachials, in that they undertake inguinal amplexus, a primitive version of amplexus. They lay their eggs on moist ground, rather than in water. Several species lack tadpoles, with the eggs hatching directly into froglets.[4] The tadpoles of S. sechellensis are carried, abnormally, on the backs of the female frogs until metamorphosis.[5]

There is no fossil record for the family. They diverged from the Nasikabatrachidae when the Seychelles Islands split from India during the Late Cretaceous.

The family was first described in 1931 by Gladwyn Kingsley Noble (1894–1940).

• Genus Sechellophryne
  • Sechellophryne gardineri (Gardiner's Seychelles frog)
  • Sechellophryne pipilodryas (Seychelles palm frog)
• Genus Sooglossus
  • Sooglossus sechellensis (Seychelles frog)
  • Sooglossus thomasseti (Thomasset's frog)

Genetic analysis indicates that some of the species that occur on multiple islands should actually be divided into multiple different lineages or evolutionarily significant units, and possibly even distinct species.[6]