The Korean brown frog (''Rana coreana'') is a species of

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

in the genus ''Rana''. It is native to the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...

and

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Korean brown frog has earlier mostly been considered as

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of '' Rana amurensis'', that is, ''R. a. coreana''. However, morphological and genetic analyses support its status as a distinct species, though closely related to ''R. amurensis''. The boundary between these two species is unclear. Until recently, Korean brown frog was considered Korean

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

. However, molecular and morphological evidence show ''Rana kunyuensis'' from

Mount Kunyu Mount Kunyu () is a group of scenic mountains in Shandong Peninsula, Shandong, China. It is located between the cities of Yantai 50 kilometers to the west and Weihai to the east. The highest point is Taibo Peak, at a height of 923 meters above sea ...

in the

province of China is the same species as Korean brown frog and its junior synonym.

Description

It is the smallest of brown frogs in Korea, with males reaching up to and females to in snout-vent length.

Habitat and conservation

The Korean brown frog inhabits coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, shrublands, and grasslands. Most commonly it occurs in open, wet places (e.g.,

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologically ...

s, swamps, riverbanks, floodplains, etc.). They

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

in shallow

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 larger ...

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 ...

ditches A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

, large

puddle A puddle is a small accumulation of liquid, usually water, on a surface. It can form either by pooling in a depression on the surface, or by surface tension upon a flat surface. A puddle is generally shallow enough to walk through, and too sma ...

s, and

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. Hibernating frogs can be found in large numbers in the bottom mud of ponds and pools. Korean brown frog may be locally threatened by habitat loss, but this common species is not threatened overall. The now-synonymized ''Rana kunyuensis'' has been assessed as "

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

" by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q587360 Rana (genus) Amphibians of China Amphibians of Korea Amphibians described in 1928