THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Anura    Ranidae  

Rio Grande Leopard Frog
Lithobates berlandieri (Baird, 1859)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Geographic variation is not well documented and relationships with extralimital Mexican forms will require considerable morphological and nDNA work to resolve.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.09.21.41.44)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.62 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arizona California New Mexico Texas

First instance(s) of published English names:
Berlandier's Frog (Rana halecina berlandieri: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Leopard-frog (Rana pipiens: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Berlandier's Frog (Rana pipiens berlandieri: 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.); Rio Grande Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens berlandieri: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1859 Baird, Spencer F. Reptiles of the Boundary, in: Volume 2, pt. 2 United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, U.S. 34th Congress, 1st Session, Executive Document 108. 1-35pp.
1957 Ruibal, Rodolfo. An altitudinal and latitudinal cline in Rana pipiens. Copeia 1957(3):212-221
1961 McAlister, Wayne H. Artificial hybridization between Rana a. areolata and Rana p. pipiens from Texas. Texas Journal of Science 13(4):423-426
1971 Cuellar, H. S. Levels of genetic compatibility of Rana areolata with southwestern members of the Rana pipiens complex (Anura: Ranidae). Evolution 25(2):399-409
1971 Mecham, John S. Vocalizations of the leopard frog, Rana pipiens, and three related Mexican species. Copeia 1971(3):505-516
1972 Platz, James E. Sympatric interaction between two forms of leopard frog (Rana pipiens complex) in Texas. Copeia 1972(2):232-240
1981 Hillis, David M. Premating isolating mechanisms among three species of the Rana pipiens complex in Texas and southern Oklahoma. Copeia 1981(2):312-319
1982 Hillis, David M. Morphological differentiation and adaptation of the larvae of Rana berlandieri and Rana sphenocephala (Rana pipiens complex) in sympatry. Copeia 1982(1):168-174
1983 Hillis, David M., John S. Frost, and D. A. Wright. Phylogeny and biogeography of the Rana pipiens complex: A biochemical evaluation. Systematic Zoology 32(2):132-143
1985 Hillis, David M. Evolutionary genetics and systematics of New World frogs of the genus Rana: An analysis of ribosomal DNA, allozymes, and morphology. Dissertation. University of Kansas, Lawrence. pp.
1991 Platz, James E. Rana berlandieri Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (508):1-4

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 11:06 CT