Lithobates

Taxobox
name = "Lithobates"

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = Pickerel Frog ("Rana palustris") Not included in "Lithobates" as proposed in 2006, it is a close relative of the type species regardless.
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Anura
familia = Ranidae
genus = "Rana"
subgenus = "Lithobates"
subgenus_authority = Fitzinger, 1843
type_species = "Rana palmipes"
type_species_authority = Spix, 1824
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = Several, see text

"Lithobates" is a subgenus of frogs of the genus "Rana" [Hillis (2007)] . These frogs are mainly found in Central and South America; dependiong on the group's delimitation the range might also extend into North America.

It was briefly proposed as a separate genus in 2006Frost (2006), Frost "et al." (2006)] , but that was rejected in later studies [Hillis (2007), Stuart (2008)] .

pecies

As proposed as a distinct genus, "Lithobates" was restricted to the following four species: [Frost "et al." (2006)]

* "Rana bwana" – Rio Chipillico Frog
* "Rana juliani" – Maya Mountains Frog
* "Rana palmipes" – Amazon River Frog
* "Rana vaillanti" – Vaillant's Frog

But other species are related closely enough to be at least partly included in this subgenus too, e.g.: [Stuart (2008)]
* "Rana berlandieri" – Rio Grande Leopard Frog (and putatively the other North American leopard frogs)
* "Rana clamitans" – Green Frog
* "Rana palustris" – Pickerel Frog
* "Rana sylvatica" – Wood Frog
* "Rana tarahumarae"

Yet other species were often placed in "Lithobates" in the past, but assignment to this subfamily is in need of verification. Such species are for example:
* "Rana areolata" – Crawfish Frog
* "Rana okaloosae" – Florida Bog Frog
* "Rana septentrionalis" – Mink Frog

Footnotes

References

* (2006): Amphibian Species of the World Version 3 - [http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/references.php?id=15026 Petropedetidae Noble, 1931] . American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Retrieved 2006-AUG-05.
* (2006): The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Number 297. New York.
* (2007) Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. "Mol. Phylogenet. Evol." 42: 331–338. doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2006.08.001 [http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/679.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2008): The phylogenetic problem of "Huia" (Amphibia: Ranidae). "Mol. Phylogenet. Evol." 46(1): 49-60. doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2007.09.016 (HTMl abstract)