Lithobates palustris (LeConte, 1825)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Ranidae > Genus: Lithobates > Species: Lithobates palustris

Rana palustris LeConte, 1825, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, 1: 282. Type(s): Not known to exist, but possibly originally in Cabinet of the Lyceum, ANSP or USNM, or MNHNP. Type locality: Not given; designated as "vicinity of Philadelphia", Pennsylvania, USA by Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 83, this restriction regarded by Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 419, as invalid by reason of not being made on the basis of disclosed evidence.

Rana pardalis Harlan, 1826, Am. J. Sci. Arts, 10: 59. Types: Not designated, although presumably originally in ANSP. Type locality: "vicinity of Philadelphia", Pennsylvania, USA. Described as junior synonym of Rana palustris LeConte. Synonymy also by Harlan, 1835, Med. Phys. Res.: 104; Wied-Neuwied, 1865, Nova Acta Phys. Med. Acad. Caesar Leopold Carol., Halle, 32: 105; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 42; Cope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 406; Boulenger, 1919, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 9, 3: 414.

Rana (Rana) palustrisGuérin-Méneville, 1838, Icon. Regne Animal, 3: 16.

Rana palustris palustrisHardy, 1964, Chesapeake Sci., 5: 91.

Rana palustris mansuetii Hardy, 1964, Chesapeake Sci., 5: 91. Holotype: USNM 150535, by original designation. Type locality: "Maxton Pond, approximately one mile southwest of Maxton, Robeson County, North Carolina", USA. Status rejected by Schaaf and Smith, 1970, Herpetologica, 26: 240-254.

Rana (Rana) palustrisDubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 41, by implication.

Rana (Pantherana) palustrisDubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 332; Yuan, Zhou, Chen, Poyarkov, Chen, Jang-Liaw, Chou, Matzke, Iizuka, Min, Kuzmin, Zhang, Cannatella, Hillis, and Che, 2016, Syst. Biol., 65: 835.

Rana (Novirana, Sierrana, Pantherana, Nenirana) palustrisHillis and Wilcox, 2005, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 34: 305. See Dubois, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 317-330, Hillis, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 331-338, and Dubois, 2007, Cladistics, 23: 390-402, for relevant discussion of nomenclature. Invalid name formulation under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) as discussed by Dubois, 2007, Cladistics, 23: 395.

Lithobates palustrisFrost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 369. Che, Pang, Zhao, Wu, Zhao, and Zhang, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 43: 1-13; by implication.

Lithobates (Lithobates) palustrisDubois, 2006, C. R. Biol., Paris, 329: 829; Dubois, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 325.

Rana (Nenirana) palustrisHillis, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 335–336, by implication.

Rana (Lithobates) palustris — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 419. 

English Names

Marsh Frog (LeConte, 1825, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, 1: 284; De Kay, 1842, Zool. New York, 1(3): 62).

Leopard Frog (Smith, 1833, Rep. Geol. Mineral. Bot. Zool. Massachusetts: 552).

Pickerel Frog (Storer, 1840, Boston J. Nat. Hist., 3: 45; Verrill, 1863, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 9: 198; Wood, 1863, Illust. Nat. Hist., 3: 155; Davis and Rice, 1883, Bull. Chicago Acad. Sci., 1: 28; Jordan, 1878, Man. Vert. North. U.S., Ed. 2: 188; Rhoads, 1895, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 47: 394; Dickerson, 1906, The Frog Book: 188; Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134; Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 159; Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 38; Wright and Wright, 1933, Handb. Frogs Toads U.S. Canada: xi; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 84; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 177; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 347; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 13; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 109; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 13; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 15; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 8; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 8; Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 18; Frost, Lemmon, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 15).

Yellow Legs (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Yellow Leg Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Poison Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Poison Bull Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Poison Bully (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Zebra Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Tiger Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Marsh Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Grass Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 134).

Swamp Frog (Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 25; Hay, 1892, Annu. Rep. Dept. Geol. Nat. Res. Indiana for 1891: 475).

Distribution

Eastern North America, from southern Quebec through southern Ontario (Canada) south through extreme eastern Minnesota and on to East Texas then east to South Carolina (USA), extreme western Florida, and north to Nova Scotia (Canada).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Canada, United States of America, United States of America - Alabama, United States of America - Arkansas, United States of America - Connecticut, United States of America - Delaware, United States of America - District of Columbia, United States of America - Florida, United States of America - Georgia, United States of America - Illinois, United States of America - Indiana, United States of America - Iowa, United States of America - Kansas, United States of America - Kentucky, United States of America - Louisiana, United States of America - Maine, United States of America - Maryland, United States of America - Massachusetts, United States of America - Michigan, United States of America - Minnesota, United States of America - Mississippi, United States of America - Missouri, United States of America - New Hampshire, United States of America - New Jersey, United States of America - New York, United States of America - North Carolina, United States of America - Ohio, United States of America - Oklahoma, United States of America - Pennsylvania, United States of America - Rhode Island, United States of America - South Carolina, United States of America - Tennessee, United States of America - Texas, United States of America - Vermont, United States of America - Virginia, United States of America - West Virginia, United States of America - Wisconsin

Comment

In the Rana areolata subgroup of the Rana pipiens group, subgenus Rana as defined by Hillis, Frost, and Wright, 1983, Syst. Zool., 32: 132–143. In the Rana palustris group of Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 42. In the equivalent Rana (Pantherana) palustris group of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 332. Reviewed by Schaaf and Smith, 1971, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 117: 1–3. Schaaf and Smith, 1970, Herpetologica, 26: 240–254, reported on geographic variation and although they rejected subspecies, they did find geographically coherent variation which they mentioned paralleled coastal and northern subspecies in Pseudacris triseriata (now considered different species: Pseudacris triseriata and Pseudacris feriarum) and Rana pipiens (now considered different species: Rana pipiens and Rana sphenocephala). Newman, Feinberg, Rissler, Burger, and Shaffer, 2012, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 63: 445–455, noted, but did not name a previously undetected species related to either Lithobates sphenocephalus, Lithobates palustris, or Lithobates pipiens, with a range of northern New Jersey, through New York City, likely to western Connecticut, USA. This species was subsequently named as Rana kauffeldi (Lithobates kauffeldi of this catalogue). Dodd, 2013, Frogs U.S. and Canada, 2 : 568–578, provided an account that summarized relevant literature. Elliot, Gerhardt, and Davidson, 2009, Frogs and Toads of N. Am.: 214–215, provided an account, photos, and advertisement call. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 233–234, provided an account of larval morphology and biology. Lannoo, Stiles, Saenz, and Hibbitts, 2018, Copeia, 2018: 575–579, reported on comparative call characteristics within the subgenus NeniranaGuyer and Bailey, 2023, Frogs and Toads of Alabama: 98–100, provided a detailed account for Alabama, USA. Bassett, 2023, Reptiles & Amphibians, 30(e18486): 1–18, provided an updated county distribution map for Texas, USA.  

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