Megophryids are the largest and most diverse family-level group of non-neobatrachian frogs. They are found in India, Pakistan, and eastward into southeast Asia, Borneo and the Philippines to the Sunda Islands. They range in size from about 20 to 125 mm.

Some are large, cryptic, forest-floor dwellers with adaptations for large prey. Their skin is modified so that they resemble dead leaves on the forest floor. Some species have points of skin on the eyelids, which further enhances the illusion (Megophrys montana). Others, such as Leptobrachella mjobergi, are small, with digital discs and are found on rocks along streams.

Some megophryids have pond-type tadpoles; others have stream-dwelling tadpoles, some with surface-feeding mouths and some with large buccal areas for clinging to rocks.

All megophryids for which data are available have unusually ossified intervertebral disks, and hyoid plates that lack most of the ceratohyals. There are no known fossils.