painted frogs

The Alytidae are a family of primitive frogs. Their common name is painted frogs or midwife toads. Most are endemic to Europe, but three species occur in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct is found in Israel.

This family is also known as Discoglossidae, but the older name Alytidae has priority and is now recognized by major reference works. Some researchers, though, suggest that Alytes and Discoglossus are different enough to be treated as belonging to separate families, implying resurrection of the Discoglossidae. The term "discoglossid" has also been used to refer to many primitive fossil frogs that share plesiomorphic (ancestral) similities to alytids, but that are probably not closely related.