THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Anura    Ranidae  

Gopher Frog
Lithobates capito (LeConte, 1855)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Lithobates capito is considered by some to be part of L. areolatus (but see Case, 1978, Systematic Zoology 27: 299–311, who considered them distinct).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.09.01.09.59.58)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.45 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Alabama Florida Georgia North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee

First instance(s) of published English names:
Florida Frog (Rana areolata capito: 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); Gopher-frog (Rana aesopus: Stejneger, Leonhard H. and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Florida Frog (Rana aesopus: 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.); Florida Gopher Frog (Rana aesopus: 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.); Southern Gopher Frog (Rana aesopus: 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.); Snake Frog (Rana aesopus: 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.); Gopher Frog (Rana capito: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Florida Gopher Frog (Rana capito capito: 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:
1855 LeConte, John E. Descriptive catalogue of the Ranina of the United States. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 7:423-431
1983 Altig, Ronald and Ren Lohefener. Rana areolata. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (324):1-4
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 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
2001 Young, Jeanne E., and Brian I. Crother. Allozyme evidence for the separation of Rana areolata and Rana capito and for the resurrection of Rana sevosa. Copeia 2001(2):382-388
2004 Richter, Stephen C. Genetic studies in a demographic framework: Annual variation, inbreeding history, and effects of isolation in a rare group of amphibians. Dissertation. University of Oklahoma, Norman. 132pp.
2005 Richter, Stephen C. and Richard E. Broughton. Development and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci for the endangered dusky gopher frog, Rana sevosa, and two closely related species, Rana capito and Rana areolata. Molecular Ecology Notes 5:436-438
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 12:20 CT