Pelophylax cretensis (Beerli, Hotz, Tunner, Heppich, and Uzzell, 1994)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Ranidae > Genus: Pelophylax > Species: Pelophylax cretensis

English Names

Greek Marsh Frog (Arnold, 2002, Rept. Amph. Eur., Ed. 2: 96).

Cretan Frog (Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 503).

Distribution

Crete, Greece, below 100 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Greece

Endemic: Greece

Comment

In the "western Palearctic water frog group" according to the original publication. Plötner and Ohst, 2001, Mitt. Mus. Naturkd. Berlin, Zool., 77: 5-21, discussed relationships of this frog. Arnold, 2002, Rept. Amph. Eur., Ed. 2: 96-97, provided a brief account, figure, and map. Kyriakopoulou-Sklavounou, Xeros, Charilaou, and Tsiora, 2003, Ann. Soc. R. Zool. Belg., 133: 191-193, on the basis of allele frequencis suggested that Pelophylax epeiroticus is most closely related to Pelophylax cretensis. Casola, Marracci, Bucci, Ragghianti, Mancino, Hotz, Uzzell, and Guex, 2004, J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res., 42: 234-244, provided a molecular tree of western Palearctic water frogs (all as Rana) in the topology Pelophylax saharicus (Pelophylax cretensis (Pelophylax perezi (Pelophylax shqipericus (Pelophylax epeiroticus ("Pelophylax lessonae" + Pelophylax ridibundus))))). See brief account for Greece by Valakos, Pafilis, Sotiropoulos, Lymberakis, Maragou, and Foufopoulos, 2008, Amph. Rept. Greece: 106-107. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Rana cretensis) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 503. Speybroeck, Beukema, Bok, and Van Der Voort, 2016, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Brit. Eur.: 192–194, provided a brief account and range map. See Dufresnes, 2019, Amph. Eur., N. Afr., & Middle East: 109, for brief summary of identifying morphology and biology, a range map, as well as a photograph.  

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