The Chiricahua leopard frog (''Lithobates chiricahuensis'' syn. ''Rana chiricahuensis'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family Ranidae, the true frogs.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to Mexico and the United States (

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

). Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are temperate

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s, intermittent rivers,

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s, freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s, and open excavations.

Conservation

It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and

chytrid fungus Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zoöspores. Chytrid ...

to such an extent that it has been eliminated from 80% of its former habitat. The Phoenix Zoo, Arizona's Department of Game and Fish, and the USFWS are trying to mitigate threats through captive breeding and reintroduction efforts.

Phylogeny

A 2011

genetic analysis Genetic analysis is the overall process of studying and researching in fields of science that involve genetics and molecular biology. There are a number of applications that are developed from this research, and these are also considered parts of ...

provided evidence that the northwestern Mogollon Rim population of ''L. chiricahuensis'' is indistinguishable from specimens of the

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Vegas Valley leopard frog (''Lithobates fisheri''). The Ramsey Canyon leopard frog (''Lithobates subaquavocalis'') has also been shown to be

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with the Chiricahua leopard frog.

References

*Hillis, D. M., et al. (1983)
Phylogeny and biogeography of the ''Rana pipiens'' complex: A biochemical evaluation.
''Systematic Zoology'' 32, 132–43. *Hillis, D. M. (1988)
Systematics of the ''Rana pipiens'' complex: Puzzle and paradigm.
''Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology'' 19, 39–63. *Hillis, D. M. and T. P. Wilcox. (2005)
Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (''Rana'').
''

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by E.A. Zimmer. Indexing The journal is indexed in: *EMBiology *Journal Citation Reports *Scopus ...

'' 34(2), 299–314. *Hillis, D. M. (2007)
Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life.
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 42, 331–38. *Platz, J. E. and J. S. Mecham. (1979)
''Rana chiricahuensis'', a new species of leopard frog (''Rana pipiens'' complex) from Arizona.
''Copeia'' 3, 383–90. * (2004): Mitochondrial DNA sequences do not support species status of the Ramsey Canyon leopard frog (''Rana subaquavocalis''). J Herpetol 38:313–319. doi: 10.1670/117-03A * Lithobates Amphibians of Mexico Chiricahua Mountains Amphibians described in 1979 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot ESA threatened species {{Ranidae-stub

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

Phylogeny

References

Further reading