Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference

Rana temporaria var. japonica Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 17. Syntypes: BMNH 44.2.22.106A-B (Japan), 54.2.10.26 (Ningpo); Chusan specimens probably lost according to L.J. Borkin in Frost, 1985, Amph. Species World: 496; Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 95, designated as "types" 2 specimens from Japan, thus restricting the type locality. Type locality: "Ningpo" [= Ningbo Shi, Zhejiang Province, China]; "Chusan" (= Zhoushan Is., Zhejiang Province, China); "Japan"; restricted type locality is "Japan". Nomen nudum. See comment by O'Shaughnessy, 1881, Zool. Rec., 16: 15, and discussion by Dubois and Ohler, 1996 "1994", Zool. Polon., 39: 162.

Rana middendorffi Steenstrup, 1869, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk Naturhist. Foren., Ser. 2, 1869: 18. Types: ZMUC. Type locality: "Siberien". Synonymy by Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 93. Previously considered a junior synonym of Rana arvalis by Nikolskii, 1918, Fauna Rossii, Zemnovodnye: 52.Considered a nomen oblitum under the 1963 Code of Zoological Nomenclature by Borkin, 1975 "1974", Tezisy Dokladov Zool. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Leningrad, 1974: 6-7.

Rana japonica Boulenger, 1879, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 4: 190. Syntype(s): 3 specimens, presumably in MNHNP or BMNH. Type locality: "Japon".

Rana martensi Boulenger, 1886, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1886: 414. Syntypes: BMNH (1 specimen), ZMB (several specimens), by original designation. Type locality: "Yedo". Synonymy by Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 108; Kawamura, 1962, J. Sci. Hiroshima Univ., B—Zool., 20: 191.

Rana martensii — Boulenger, 1886, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 11: 599. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Rana (Rana) japonica — Boulenger, 1920, Rec. Indian Mus., 20: 9. Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 41-42; by implication; Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 333.

Rana temporaria var. martensi — Okada and Kawano, 1923, Zool. Mag., Tokyo, 35: 367.

Rana temporaria martensi — Okada, 1931, Tailless Batr. Japan. Empire: 118. Sato and Takashima, 1955, Misc. Rep. Yamashina Inst. Ornithol. Zool., 6: 260-268.

Rana (Rana) japonica japonica — Nakamura and Ueno, 1963, Japan. Rept. Amph. Color: 41.

Rana japonica japonica — Zhao, Tan, and Wu, 1987, Acta Zootaxon. Sinica, 12: 213-218.

Rana (Laurasiarana) japonica — Hillis and Wilcox, 2005, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 34: 311. by implication; see Dubois, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 317-330, and Hillis, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 331-338, for discussion.

English Names

Agile Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 108).

Japan Brown Frog (Maeda and Matsui, 1990, Frogs Toads Japan, Ed. 2: 47; Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 70).

Distribution

Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku Is., as well as the Tanegashima Group).

Comment

In the Section Rana, subgenus Rana, Rana japonica group of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 333. See Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 107-113; Nakamura and Ueno, 1963, Japan. Rept. Amph. Color: 41-42; Liu, 1950, Fieldiana, Zool. Mem., 2: 285-292 (as Rana japonica and Rana chaochiaoensis); and Kuramoto, 1974, Copeia, 1974: 815-822. See comments under Rana chaochiaoensis and Rana longicrus. See nomenclature discussion by Tanaka, Matsui, and Takenaka, 1994, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 11: 753-757, discussed the relationships of this species with Rana ornativentris, Rana pirica, Rana tagoi, and Rana sakuraii. Sumida and Nishioka, 1994, Sci. Rep. Lab. Amph. Biol. Hiroshima Univ., 13: 137-171, and Sumida, 1996, J. Herpetol., 30: 333-346, presented evidence suggestive of two cryptic species under this name in Japan. (This conclusion also reach by Highton, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 236.) Sumida and Ogata, 1998, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 15: 989-1000, and Sumida, 1997, Genes Genet. Syst., 72: 79-90, provided additional evidence from mtDNA sequences and restiction site analysis, respectively. See Tanaka-Ueno, Matsui, Sato, Takenaka, and Takenaka, 1998, Japan. J. Herpetol., 17: 91-97, for phylogenetic relationships and discussion. Formerly confused with Rana zhenhaiensis, Rana omeimontis, and Rana chaochiaoensis. Maeda and Matsui, 1990, Frogs Toads Japan, Ed. 2: 44-47, provided an account for Japan, noted an undescribed species from the Tohoku Distict and noted that Rana martensi might be conspecific. Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 70-72, provided an account, map, and photograph. Lu, Li, Wang, Wang, and Cui, 2005, Sichuan J. Zool., 24: 276-278, discussed and rejected records of Rana japonica from China.

External Links

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• For additional sources of information from other sites search Google
• For images search Arkive, CalPhoto Images and Google Images
• To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
• For information aggregation from other sites and some original accounts see AmphibiaWeb report
• For further information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
• For related information on conservation and images as well as observation see iNaturalist;
• for a quick link to their maps see iNaturalist KML