Contents

Lithobates

Lithobates Temporal range: Early Miocene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
A close up of a male American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Ranidae
Genus:	Lithobates Fitzinger, 1843
Type species
Rana palmipes Spix, 1824
Species
7 to 50, depending on the definition
Synonyms
†Anchylorana Taylor, 1942

Lithobates, commonly known as the bullfrogs, is a genus of true frogs, of the family Ranidae.^[1] The name is derived from litho- (stone) and the Greek bates (βάτης, one that treads), meaning one that treads on rock, or rock climber.^[2][3] As presently defined, it includes many of eastern North America's most familiar aquatic frog species, including the American bullfrog, green frog, and the leopard frogs.

Systematics[edit]

The name was defined by Hillis and Wilcox (2005) for a subgenus of four Central and South American frogs within the genus Rana.^[4][5] The subgenus was subsequently expanded to seven species in Central and South America in a systematic revision of the genus Rana.^[6] The name was previously used by Frost et al. as a separate genus of ranid frogs that included most of the North American frogs traditionally included in the genus Rana,^[7] including the American bullfrog and northern leopard frog. Frost used the name in this sense in the frog section of a North American common names list edited by Crother (2008).^[8] This proposed change has since been rejected by others, such as Stuart (2008),^[9] Pauly et al. (2009),^[10] AmphibiaWeb,^[11] and Yuan et al. (2016).^[6] AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/, an online compendium of amphibian names, follows Yuan et al. (2016) in recognizing Lithobates as a subgenus.^[6] On the other hand, Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an online reference, uses Lithobates as a genus.^[1] This definition is also followed by, e.g., the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)^[12] and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.^[13]

The earliest known members of this genus are known from the Early MioceneofFlorida, and appear to belong to the leopard frog species complex.^[14]

Species[edit]

Recent species[edit]

These species are recognised in the genus Lithobates:^[1]

Alternatively, if Lithobates is treated as a subgenus (neotropical true frogs), then this narrower definition would contain the following species:

Fossil species[edit]

The following fossil species are known, all assignable to the L. pipiens (leopard frog) complex:^[14]

• †Lithobates bucella (Holman, 1965) (Early Miocene of Florida)
• †Lithobates dubitus (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates fayeae (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates moorei (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates miocenicus (Holman, 1965) (Early Miocene of Florida)
• †Lithobates robustocondylus (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates rexroadensis (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates parvissimus (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)

The species described in 1942 were previously placed in their own genus, Anchylorana.^[14]

References[edit]