Editing Hula painted frog (section)

==Taxonomy==

On March 22, 1940, the biologists [[Heinrich Mendelssohn (zoologist)|Heinrich Mendelssohn]] and [[Heinz Steinitz]] discovered two specimens apparently belonging to a new species of the frog genus ''[[Discoglossus]]'' on the eastern shore of [[Lake Hula]] in [[Safed]], in the [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern District]] of [[Mandatory Palestine]]. The largest of the frogs swallowed the smaller one while they were kept in a [[terrarium]]. Two [[tadpoles]] of the species from the same locality were discovered by Seinitz in August 1940. In 1943, Mendelssohn and Steinitz named the new species ''Discoglossus nigriventer'', designating a female of the captured specimens by then housed at the [[Hebrew University]] in [[Jerusalem]] as the [[holotype specimen]] and the tadpoles as the [[paratype specimens]].<ref name="Naming1943">{{cite journal |last1=Mendelssohn |first1=Heinrich |last2=Steinitz |first2=Heinz |title=A New Frog from Palestine |journal=Copeia |date=1943 |volume=1943 |issue=4 |pages=231–233 |doi=10.2307/1438135 |jstor=1438135 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1438135 |issn=0045-8511|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

Little is known about its history, because few specimens have been found by scientists. Two adults and two [[tadpole]]s were collected in 1940 and a single specimen was found in 1955. This would prove to be the last record of this species until 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Frog-jumps-back-from-extinction-20111117 |title=Frog jumps back from extinction |publisher=News24 |access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref>

According to an ecologist of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the frog's Hebrew name, ''agulashon shehor-gahon'' (''Black-bellied round-tongued''), derives from its black belly and round tongue. The scientific name of the species reflects these details as well. Unlike the tongues of other frogs, it is not used to catch prey.<ref name="haaretz.com">{{cite web|last=Rinat |first=Zafrir |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/second-of-frog-species-long-thought-extinct-found-in-israel-nature-reserve-1.398516 |title=Second of frog species long thought extinct found in Israel nature reserve Israel News &#124; Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2011-11-29 |access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref>

[[File:Latonia seyfriedi 001.jpg|thumb|right|Fossil of the prehistoric relative ''[[Latonia seyfriedii]]'']] 
This frog was originally proposed to be a member of the genus ''[[Discoglossus]]'', but further genetic and morphological assessment after the rediscovery of the species led a reassignment to genus ''[[Latonia (frog)|Latonia]]'', for which no other living examples are known. Fossils of ''Latonia'' are known in Europe spanning from the [[Upper Oligocene]] until the [[Early Pleistocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rocek |first1=Z. |year=1994 |title=Taxonomy and distribution of Tertiary discoglossids (Anura) of the genus ''Latonia'' v. Meyer, 1843 |url=http://rocek.gli.cas.cz/Reprints/Latonia.pdf |journal=Geobios |volume=27 |issue=6 |pages=717–751 |doi=10.1016/s0016-6995(94)80058-8|bibcode=1994Geobi..27..717R }}</ref> The closest relative of Latonia is considered to be ''Discoglossus.'' On this basis, the Hula painted frog has been labeled a [[living fossil]], the only extant representative of an ancient genetic split.<ref name="Nature">{{cite journal |last1=Biton |first1=Rebecca |last2=Geffen |first2=Eli |last3=Vences |first3=Miguel |last4=Cohen |first4=Orly |last5=Bailon |first5=Salvador |last6=Rabinovich |first6=Rivka |last7=Malka |first7=Yoram |last8=Oron |first8=Talya |last9=Boistel |first9=Renaud |last10=Brumfeld |first10=Vlad |last11=Gafny |first11=Sarig |date=4 June 2013 |title=The rediscovered Hula painted frog is a living fossil |journal=Nature Communications |volume=4 |at=Article 1959 |bibcode=2013NatCo...4.1959B |doi=10.1038/ncomms2959 |pmid=23736869 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="BBC2013"/><ref name="NatGeo2013" />

The [[cladogram]] below is based on the 2013 genetic analysis by Biton and colleagues:<ref name="Nature"/>

{{clade
|{{clade
|1=''[[Ascaphus truei]]''
|2={{clade
|label1=[[Bombinatoridae]]
|1={{clade
 |1=''[[Bombina maxima]]''
 |2={{clade
   |1=''[[Bombina variegata]]''
   |2={{clade
    |1=''[[Bombina bombina]]''
    |2=''[[Bombina orientalis]]'' }} }} }}
    |label3=[[Alytidae]]
    |3={{clade
    |label1=''[[Alytes]]''
    |1={{clade
|1=''[[Alytes cisternasii]]''
|2={{clade
 |1=''[[Alytes obstetricans]]''
 |2={{clade
  |1=''[[Alytes muletensis]]''
  |2={{clade
   |1=''[[Alytes dickhilleni]]''
   |2=''[[Alytes maurus]]'' }} }} }} }}
   |label3=[[Discoglossinae]]
   |3={{clade
|1='''''Latonia nigriventer''''' ('''Hula painted frog''')
|label2 = ''[[Discoglossus]]''
|2={{clade
 |1=''[[Discoglossus montalentii]]''
 |2={{clade
 |1={{clade
  |1=''[[Discoglossus pictus]]''
  |2=''[[Discoglossus sardus]]'' }}
  |3={{clade
|1=''[[Discoglossus scovazzi]]''
|2={{clade
 |1=''[[Discoglossus galganoi]]''
 |2=''[[Discoglossus jeanneae]]''
}} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}