Mexican White-lipped Frog
Leptodactylus fragilis
(Brocchi, 1877)
LEP-toh-DAK-til-us — FRAH-jih-lis
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Much of the older literature about this species refers to this species as Leptodactylus labialis.
(Mendelson, Joseph R., III, Darrel R. Frost, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, and Maureen A. Donnelly. 2025. Anura – Frogs. Pages 1-9 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.09.01.09.53.18)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.4 MB
Province/State Distribution:
United States: Texas
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its delicate stature.
Leptodactylus — Greek leptos = “slender” + daktylos = “finger” — “slender-fingered,” referring to the frog’s narrow digits.
fragilis — Latin fragilis = “fragile,” “brittle,” or “delicate” — referring to its appearance or slight build.
First instance(s) of published English names:
White-jawed Frog (Leptodactylus albilabris: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); White-lipped Frog (Leptodactylus albilabris: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Mexican White-lipped Frog (Leptodactylus labialis: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Middle American White-lipped Frog (Leptodactylus fragilis: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist
and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and
reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
Amphibian Species of the World
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1877
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Brocchi, P. Sur quelques batraciens raniformes et bufoniformes de l’Amérique Centrale. [On some raniform and bufoniform batrachians from Central America.] Bulletin de la Société Philomathique de Paris. Series 7. [Bulletin of the Philomathic Society of Paris. Series 7.] 1:175–197
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1971
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Heyer, W. Ronald. Leptodactylus labialis. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (104):1-3
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2006
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Heyer, Miriiam Muedeking, Heyer, W. Ronald, and de Sa, Rafael O. Leptodactylus fragilis Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (830):1-26
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2019
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Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist
and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and
reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53
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