''Pelophylax'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

true frog True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North A ...

s widespread in Eurasia, with a few species ranging into northern Africa. This genus was erected by

Leopold Fitzinger Leopold Joseph Franz Johann Fitzinger (13 April 1802 – 20 September 1884) was an Austrian zoologist. Fitzinger was born in Vienna and studied botany at the University of Vienna under Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. He worked at the Vienna Naturhis ...

in 1843 to accommodate the green frogs of the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

, which he considered distinct from the brown

pond frog ''Rana'' is a genus of frogs commonly known as the Holarctic true frogs, pond frogs or brown frogs. Members of this genus are found through much of Eurasia and western North America. Many other genera were formerly included here. These true fr ...

s of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

' genus ''

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

''. They are also known as water frogs, as they spend much of the summer living in aquatic

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 ...

; the pond frogs can be found more often, by comparison, on dry land, as long as there is sufficient

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

. Yet there are species of Eurasian green frogs – the

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n '' P. terentievi'', or the

Sahara frog The Sahara frog (''Pelophylax saharicus'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spanish North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla), and Western Sahara; it has also been introduced to Gran Can ...

(''P. saharicus'') – which inhabit waterholes in the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

Systematics and taxonomy

Most authors throughout the 19th and 20th century disagreed with Fitzinger's assessment. The green frogs were included again with the brown frogs, in line with the tendency to place any frog similar in habitus to the

common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian o ...

(''R. temporaria'') in ''Rana''. That genus, in the loose circumscription, eventually became a sort of "

wastebin taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...

". Around 2000, with

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies becoming commonplace, it was discovered that Fitzinger's assessment was correct after all – not only is ''Pelophylax'' an independent genus, but it does in fact belong to a lineage of

Raninae True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North A ...

not particularly close to ''Rana''. But it also turned out that these Eurasian green frogs might not form a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

lineage. The sheer number of

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

involved in the group of ''Pelophylax'' and its closest relatives means that it will probably be some time until the definite circumscription of this genus is resolved. The ''Pelophylax'' frogs belong to a group of moderately advanced Raninae – possibly a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

– that also includes such genera as '' Babina'', '' Glandirana'', ''

Hylarana ''Hylarana'', commonly known as golden-backed frogs, is a genus of true frogs found in tropical Asia. It was formerly considered highly diverse, containing around 84 to 96 valid species, but taxonomic revision resulted in a major change in the c ...

'', '' Pulchrana'', '' Sanguirana'', '' Sylvirana'', as well as '' Hydrophylax'' which like ''Pelophylax'' is suspected of being not monophyletic. These genera were formerly also included in ''Rana'' by most authors, and several of them have only been established in the 1990s. And as regards the possible

paraphyly In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

of ''Pelophylax'', it seems that some species assigned there are very close to ''Hylarana'', and thus it might simply be a matter of moving them to that genus. But

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

ogenic

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...

is running rampant in the Old World green frogs, and this

obfuscate Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent u ...

s the data gained from

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

analyses.

Species

Including named klepta ( hybridogenic species), ''Pelophylax''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

contains 25 species: * '' Pelophylax bedriagae'' – Levant water frog * ''

Pelophylax bergeri The Italian pool frog (''Pelophylax bergeri'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. Found on the mainland of Italy and the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Elba, Corsica and Sardinia, its natural habitats are rivers, swamps, freshwater l ...

'' – Italian pool frog * '' Pelophylax caralitanus'' (Arikan, 1988) (formerly in ''P. bedriagae'') * '' Pelophylax cerigensis'' – Karpathos frog * '' Pelophylax chosenicus'' – Seoul frog * '' Pelophylax cretensis'' – Cretan frog * '' Pelophylax cypriensis'' – Cyprus water frog * '' Pelophylax demarchii'' (validity and taxonomic status unclear;

klepton In biology, a klepton (abbr. kl.) and synklepton (abbr sk.) is a species that requires input from another biological taxon (normally from a species which is closely related to the kleptonic species) to complete its reproductive cycle. Specific typ ...

?) * ''

Pelophylax epeiroticus The Epirus water frog (''Pelophylax epeiroticus'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is found in western Greece, including Kerkyra,Schneider, H., Sofianidou, T. S., Kyriakopoulou-Sklavounou, P.: ''Bioacoustic and morphometric studie ...

'' – Epirus water frog * '' Pelophylax fukienensis'' (formerly in ''P. plancyi'') * '' Pelophylax hubeiensis'' (may belong in ''P. plancyi'') * '' Pelophylax kurtmuelleri'' – Balkan frog * ''

Pelophylax lessonae The pool frog (''Pelophylax lessonae'') is a European frog in the family Ranidae. Its specific name (zoology), specific name was chosen by the Italian Herpetology, herpetologist Lorenzo Camerano in 1882, in order to honour his master Michele Less ...

'' – pool frog * ''

Pelophylax nigromaculatus ''Pelophylax nigromaculatus'' (formerly ''Rana nigromaculata''), is a species of true frog found in East Asia, first described in 1861. This widespread and common frog has many common names, including dark-spotted frog, black-spotted pond frog, a ...

'' – dark-spotted frog (may include ''P. tenggerensis'') * ''

Pelophylax perezi The Perez's frog, also known as Iberian waterfrog, Iberian green frog, or Coruna frog (''Pelophylax perezi'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to southern France, Portugal, Spain, and has been introduced to the Canary a ...

'' – Perez's frog * '' Pelophylax plancyi'' – eastern golden frog (may include ''P. hubeiensis'') * '' Pelophylax porosus'' – Daruma pond frog * ''

Pelophylax ridibundus The marsh frog (''Pelophylax ridibundus'') is a species of water frog native to Europe and parts of western Asia. Description The marsh frog is the largest type of frog in most of its range, with males growing to a size around 100 mm (3.9 ...

'' – marsh frog * '' Pelophylax saharicus'' – Sahara frog * '' Pelophylax shqipericus'' – Albanian water frog * '' Pelophylax tenggerensis'' (may belong in ''P. nigromaculatus'') * ''

Pelophylax terentievi ''Pelophylax terentievi'', commonly known as Terentjev's frog or Central Asian pond frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is found in Xinjiang, China and Tajikistan, and possibly in Afghanistan. Its natural habitat In ec ...

'' (taxonomic status unclear; klepton?) Named klepta ( hybridogenic species) of ''Pelophylax'' are: * ''Pelophylax'' kl. ''esculentus'' –

edible frog The edible frog (''Pelophylax'' kl. ''esculentus'') is a species of common European frog, also known as the common water frog or green frog (however, this latter term is also used for the North American species ''Rana clamitans''). It is used ...

(''P. lessonae'' × ''P. ridibundus'') * ''Pelophylax'' kl. ''grafi'' –

Graf's hybrid frog Graf's hybrid frog (''Pelophylax'' kl. ''grafi'') is a hybridogenic species in the true frog family Ranidae. It is found in France and Spain. Its natural habitats are rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshw ...

(''P. perezi'' × ''P. ridibundus'') * ''Pelophylax'' kl. ''hispanicus'' –

Italian edible frog The Italian edible frog (''Pelophylax'' kl. ''hispanicus'') is a hybridogenic species in the true frog family Ranidae. These frogs are the offspring of '' P. bergeri'' and either '' P. ridibundus'' or the edible frog (''P.'' kl. '' esculentus'' ...

(''P. bergeri'' × ''P. ridibundus'' / ''P.'' kl. ''esculentus'') In addition, one species has been described that is sometimes assigned to ''Pelophylax'', but must be considered a ''

nomen oblitum In zoological nomenclature, a ''nomen oblitum'' (plural: ''nomina oblita''; Latin for "forgotten name") is a disused scientific name which has been declared to be obsolete (figuratively 'forgotten') in favour of another 'protected' name. In its p ...

'': * '' "Hyla" ranaeformis'' Laurenti, 1768 (= " Hyla gibbosa" Lacépède, 1788 ( unavailable: published in non-

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...

work) )

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1187092 Amphibian genera Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger

Systematics and taxonomy

Species

See also

References

External links