Rana (genus)

Rana (genus)
Rana (derived from Latin rana, meaning 'frog') is a genus of frogs commonly known as the Holarctic true frogs, pond frogs or brown frogs. Members of this genus are found through much of Eurasia and western North America. Many other genera were formerly included here.
These true frogs are usually largish species characterized by their slim waists and wrinkled skin; many have thin ridges running along their backs, but they generally lack "warts" as in typical toads. They are excellent jumpers due to their long, slender legs. The typical webbing found on their hind feet allows for easy movement through water. Coloration is mostly greens and browns above, with darker and yellowish spots.
Distribution and habitat
Many frogs in this genus breed in early spring, although subtropical and tropical species may breed throughout the year. Males of most of the species are known to call, but a few species are thought to be voiceless. Females lay eggs in rafts or large, globular clusters, and can produce up to 20,000 at one time.
Diet
Rana species feed mainly on insects and invertebrates, but swallow anything they can fit into their mouths, including small vertebrates. Among their predators are egrets, crocodiles, and snakes.
Systematics
Some 50 to 100 extant species are now placed in this genus by various authors; many other species formerly placed in Rana are now placed elsewhere. Frost restricted Rana to the Old World true frogs and the Eurasian brown and pond frogs of the common frog R. temporaria group, although other authors disagreed with this arrangement. In 2016, a consortium of Rana researchers from throughout Europe, Asia, and North America revised the group, and reported that the arrangement of Frost (2006) resulted in nonmonophyletic groups. Yuan et al. (2016) included all the North American ranids within Rana, and used subgenera for the well-differentiated species groups within Rana. Both of these classifications are presented below.
Genera recently split from Rana are Babina, Clinotarsus (including Nasirana), Glandirana, Hydrophylax, Hylarana, Lithobates, Odorrana (including Wurana), Pelophylax, Pulchrana, Sanguirana, and Sylvirana. Of these, Odorrana and Lithobates are so closely related to Rana proper, they could conceivably be included here once again. The others seem to be far more distant relatives, in particular Pelophylax.
New species are still being described in some numbers. A number of extinct species are in the genus, including Rana basaltica, from Miocene deposits in China.
Species
The following species are recognised in the genus Rana:
Rana amurensis (Boulenger, 1886) – Siberian tree frog, Siberian wood frog, Amur brown frog
Rana arvalis – Moor frog
Rana asiatica – Central Asiatic frog, Asian frog
Rana aurora – Northern red-legged frog
Rana boylii – Foothill yellow-legged frog
Rana cascadae – Cascades frog
Rana chaochiaoensis – Chaochiao frog
Rana chensinensis – Asiatic grass frog, Chinese brown frog
Rana chevronta – Chevron-spotted brown frog
Rana coreana – Korean brown frog
Rana dalmatina – Agile frog
Rana draytonii – California red-legged frog
Rana dybowskii – Dybowski's frog
Rana graeca – Greek stream frog, Greek frog
Rana hanluica
Rana huanrenensis – Huanren frog
Rana iberica – Iberian frog
Rana italica – Italian stream frog
Rana japonica – Japanese brown frog
Rana jiemuxiensis – Jiemuxi brown frog
Rana johnsi – Johns' groove-toed frog
Rana kobai – Ryukyu brown frog
Rana kukunoris – Plateau brown frog
Rana latastei – Italian agile frog, Lataste's frog
Rana longicrus – Taipa frog
Rana luanchuanensis
Rana luteiventris – Columbia spotted frog
Rana macrocnemis – Long-legged wood frog, Caucasus frog, Turkish frog, Brusa frog
Rana maoershanensis
Rana muscosa – Southern mountain yellow-legged frog
Rana neba
Rana omeimontis – Omei brown frog, Omei wood frog
Rana ornativentris – Montane brown frog, Nikkō frog
Rana pirica – Hokkaidō frog
Rana pretiosa – Oregon spotted frog
Rana pseudodalmatina
†Rana pueyoi
Rana pyrenaica – Pyrenean frog, Pyrenees frog
Rana sakuraii – Stream brown frog, Napparagawa frog
Rana sauteri – Sauter's brown frog, Kanshirei village frog, Taiwan groove-toed frog, Taiwan pseudotorrent frog
Rana sangzhiensis – Sangzhi frog, Sangzhi groove-toed frog
Rana shuchinae – Sichuan frog
Rana sierrae – Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Sierra Nevada Mountain yellow-legged frog
Rana tagoi – Tago's brown frog
Rana tavasensis – Tavas frog
Rana temporaria – Common frog, European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog
Rana tsushimensis – Tsushima brown frog, Tsushima leopard frog
Rana uenoi
Rana ulma – Okinawa frog
Rana zhengi
Rana zhenhaiensis – Zhenhai brown frog
Alternative classifications
AmphibiaWeb includes the following species, arranged in subgenera:
Subgenus Amerana (Pacific brown frogs)
Rana aurora – northern red-legged frog
Rana boylii – foothill yellow-legged frog
Rana cascadae – Cascades frog
Rana draytonii – California red-legged frog
Rana luteiventris – Columbia spotted frog
Rana muscosa – southern mountain yellow-legged frog
Rana pretiosa – Oregon spotted frog
Rana sierrae – Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Sierra Nevada Mountain yellow-legged frog
Subgenus Aquarana (North American water frogs)
Rana catesbeiana Shaw, 1802 – American bullfrog
Rana clamitans Latreille, 1801 – green frog, bronze frog, northern green frog
Rana grylio Stejneger, 1901 – pig frog
Rana heckscheri Wright, 1924 – river frog
Rana okaloosae Moler, 1985 – Florida bog frog
Rana septentrionalis Baird, 1854 – mink frog
Rana virgatipes Cope, 1891 – carpenter frog
Subgenus Lithobates (neotropical true frogs)
Rana bwana Hillis and de Sá, 1988 – Rio Chipillico frog
Rana juliani Hillis and de Sá, 1988 – Maya Mountains frog
Rana maculata Brocchi, 1877
Rana palmipes Spix, 1824 – Amazon River frog
Rana vaillanti Brocchi, 1877 – Vaillant's frog
Rana vibicaria (Cope, 1894)
Rana warszewitschii Schmidt, 1857
Subgenus Liuhurana
Rana shuchinae Liu, 1950
Subgenus Pantherana (leopard, pickerel and gopher frogs)
Rana areolata Baird and Girard, 1852 – crawfish frog
Rana berlandieri Baird, 1859 – Rio Grande leopard frog
Rana blairi Mecham et al., 1973 – plains leopard frog
Rana brownorum Sanders, 1973 – Gulf Coast leopard frog
Rana capito LeConte, 1855 – Carolina gopher frog
Rana chichicuahutla Cuellar, Méndez-De La Cruz, and Villagrán-Santa Cruz, 1996
Rana chiricahuensis Platz and Mecham, 1979 – Chiricahua leopard frog
Rana dunni Zweifel, 1957 – Lake Patzcuaro frog
Rana fisheri Stejneger, 1893 – Mogollon Rim leopard frog
Rana forreri (Boulenger, 1883) – Forrer's leopard frog
Rana kauffeldi Feinberg et al., 2014 – Atlantic Coast leopard frog
Rana lemosespinali Smith and Chiszar, 2003
Rana lenca (Luque-Montes et al., 2018)
Rana macroglossa Brocchi, 1877
Rana magnaocularis Frost and Bagnara, 1974
Rana megapoda Taylor, 1942
Rana miadis Barbour and Loveridge, 1929
Rana montezumae Baird, 1854
Rana neovolcanica Hillis and Frost, 1985
Rana omiltemana Günther, 1900
Rana onca Cope, 1875 – relict leopard frog
Rana palustris LeConte, 1825 – pickerel frog
Rana pipiens Schreber, 1782 – northern leopard frog
Rana sevosa Goin and Netting, 1940 – dusky gopher frog
Rana spectabilis Hillis and Frost, 1985 – brilliant leopard frog
Rana sphenocephala Cope, 1886 – southern leopard frog
Rana taylori Smith, 1959 – Peralta frog
Rana tlaloci Hillis and Frost, 1985 – Tlaloc's leopard frog
Rana yavapaiensis Platz and Frost, 1984 – lowland leopard frog
Subgenus Pseudorana (Weining brown frog)
Rana weiningensis
Subgenus Rana (Eurasian brown frogs)
Rana amurensis – Siberian tree frog, Siberian wood frog, Amur brown frog
Rana arvalis – moor frog
Rana asiatica – Central Asiatic frog, Asian frog
Rana camerani – long-legged wood frog
Rana chaochiaoensis – Chaochiao frog
Rana chensinensis – Asiatic grass frog, Chinese brown frog
Rana chevronta – chevron-spotted brown frog
Rana coreana – Korean brown frog
Rana culaiensis – Culai brown frog
Rana dalmatina – agile frog
Rana dybowskii – Dybowski's frog
Rana graeca – Greek stream frog, Greek frog
Rana hanluica
Rana holtzi – long-legged wood frog
Rana huanrenensis – Huanren frog
Rana iberica – Iberian frog
Rana italica – Italian stream frog
Rana japonica – Japanese brown frog
Rana jiemuxiensis – Jiemuxi brown frog
Rana johnsi – Johns' groove-toed frog
Rana kobai – Ryukyu brown frog
Rana kukunoris – plateau brown frog
Rana latastei – Italian agile frog, Lataste's frog
Rana longicrus – Taipa frog
Rana macrocnemis – long-legged wood frog, Caucasus frog, Turkish frog, Brusa frog
Rana maoershanensis
Rana neba
Rana omeimontis – Omei brown frog, Omei wood frog
Rana ornativentris – montane brown frog, Nikkō frog
Rana pirica – Hokkaidō frog
Rana pseudodalmatina
Rana pyrenaica – Pyrenean frog, Pyrenees frog
Rana sakuraii – stream brown frog, Napparagawa frog
Rana sangzhiensis
Rana sauteri – Sauter's brown frog, Kanshirei village frog, Taiwan groove-toed frog, Taiwan pseudotorrent frog
Rana tagoi – Tago's brown frog
Rana tavasensis – Tavas brown frog
Rana temporaria – common frog, European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog
Rana tsushimensis – Tsushima brown frog, Tsushima leopard frog
Rana uenoi
Rana ulma
Rana zhengi
Rana zhenhaiensis – Zhenhai brown frog
Subgenus Zweifelia (Mexican torrent frogs)
Rana johni Blair, 1965
Rana psilonota Webb, 2001
Rana pueblae Zweifel, 1955
Rana pustulosa (Boulenger, 1883)
Rana sierramadrensis Taylor, 1939
Rana tarahumarae (Boulenger, 1917) – Tarahumara frog
Rana zweifeli Hillis, Frost, and Webb, 1984 – Zweifel's frog
Incertae sedis (no assigned subgenus)
Rana dabieshanensis Wang et al., 2017
Rana luanchuanensis Zhao and Yuan, 2017
Rana sylvatica LeConte, 1825 – wood frog
Notes on other taxonomic arrangements:
The harpist brown frog, Kampira Falls frog, or Yaeyama harpist frog was formerly known as R. psaltes; it was subsequently identified as the long-known R. okinavana. The latter name has been misapplied to the Ryūkyū brown frog, but the harpist brown frog is a rather distinct species that apparently belongs in Babina or Nidirana if these are considered valid.
References
Further reading
External links
AmphibiaWeb
Amphibian and Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia
True frogs
Amphibian genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus