Vegas Valley Leopard Frog
Lithobates fisheri
(Stejneger, 1893)
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Previously considered to be extinct. Hekkala et al. (2011, Conservation Genetics 12: 1379–1385) used DNA sequence data from museum specimens to show that L. fisheri and frogs ascribed to L. chiricahuensis from near the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona comprise a lineage distinct from R. chiricahuensis populations to the south and east. Platz (1993, Journal of Herpetology 27: 154–162) previously noted the various lines of evidence suggesting that L. chiricahuensis was composed of more than one species, with the population in central Arizona being notably distinctive. Still, it was not possible, at that time, to compare those frogs genetically with L. fisheri.
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.12.14.08.06.11)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.07 MB
Province/State Distribution:
USA: Nevada
First instance(s) of published English names:
Vegas Valley Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens fisheri: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
Amphibian Species of the World
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1893
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Stejneger, Leonhard H. Annotated list of the reptiles and batrachians collected by the Death Valley Expedition in 1891, with descriptions of new species. North American Fauna 7:159–228
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1957
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Ruibal, Rodolfo. An altitudinal and latitudinal cline in Rana pipiens. Copeia 1957(3):212-221
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1985
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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.
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2011
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Hekkala, Evon R., Raymond A. Saumure, Jef R. Jaeger, Hans-Werner Herrmann, Michael J. Dredl, David F. Bradford, Danielle Drabeck, and Michael J. Blum. Resurrecting an extinct species: Archival DNA, taxonomy, and conservation of the Vegas Valley leopard Frog. Conservation Genetics 2011(12):1379–1385
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