Ranoidea RAFINESQUE , 1814

Rage, Jean-Claude, 2016, Frogs (Amphibia, Anura) From The Eocene And Oligocene Of The Phosphorites Du Quercy (France). An Overview, Fossil Imprint 72 (1 - 2), pp. 53-66 : 57

Ranoidea RAFINESQUE, 1814

Ranoids (i.e. Ranoides of Frost et al. 2006) make up a huge, monophyletic clade within the Neobatrachia. This is a widely distributed group absent only from South America and, obviously, Antarctica. This clade and its included families have had a complex taxonomic history that cannot be reported here ( Frost et al. 2006; see also Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference, Version 6.0, edited by D. R. Frost (accessed 10 February 2016), http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/ amphibia /index.html).

The earliest ranoid is represented by a few isolated bones from the Cenomanian of Sudan ( Báez and Werner 1996); unfortunately, these specimens remain undescribed. Stratigraphically, the next possible ranoid occurs in the Coniacian- Santonian of In Beceten, Niger ( de Broin et al. 1974, Rage 1984b, in progress). Ranoids may also be present in the Paleocene of Cernay, France ( Estes et al. 1967, Rage 1984b). Ranoids become more frequent, although still not numerous, in the Eocene and they are present in the Phosphorites. Two ranoid groups from the Phosphorites are considered separately below: the genus Thaumastosaurus and unidentified taxa.

Family indeterminate