Ceratophrys

Ceratophrys is a genus of frogs in the family Ceratophryidae. They are also known as South American horned frogs as well as Pacman frogs due to their characteristic round shape, horned brows, and large mouth, reminiscent of the video game character Pac-Man.

Ceratophrys

Diberri and Celgeofrog · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
South American horned frogPBDB
Sits inside
CeratophrynidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Temnospondyli
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Temnospondyli
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Temnospondyli
Environment
brackish,freshwater,terrestrialPBDB, for Tetrapoda

Time the record covers

At least 3.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 14 occurrencesPliocene — about 10 of 14 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 3 of 14 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 1 of 14 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.9–4.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.7–4.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.5–4.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.3–4.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.1–3.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 0.5 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

14 occurrences of Ceratophrys on record, most of them in the Pliocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

14 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

Monte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WIrene — 38.63°S, 60.61°WTarija — 21.53°S, 64.73°WNuapua — 20.75°S, 63.07°WDolores — 34.38°S, 57.88°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ceratophrys has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ceratophrys and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Ceratophrys and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

229 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 8 sites for Ceratophrys, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

7 references

Each of the 14 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Ceratophrys

Credit
Diberri and Celgeofrog
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Rhinella ceratophrys · UTA:UTA-A:4061

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCeratophrynidae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Wied 1824