The Tago's brown frog or simply Tago frog (''Rana tagoi'') 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

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 elsew ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is widely distributed within Japan and found on

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

, Shikoku, and

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

, as well as on some outlying islands. There are two

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 ...

: * ''Rana tagoi okiensis'' — Oki Islands * ''Rana tagoi yakushimensis'' —

Yakushima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Landsat image of Yakushima , image_size = , nickname = , location = East China Sea , coordinates = , map = Japan#Japan Kagoshima Prefecture , map_relief ...

These might qualify as species. It can also introgres with its sister species, ''

Rana sakuraii The stream brown frog or Napparagawa frog (''Rana sakuraii'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to Japan. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually ...

''.

Habitat

These frogs are found in mountainous areas close to streams in the leaf-litter, or underneath stones in the streams.　They lay their eggs in subterranean rivers, where the tadpoles grow into frogs. In late spring their croaks can be heard from above ground.

References

Rana (genus) Amphibians described in 1928 Endemic amphibians of Japan Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Katsuya Tago {{Ranidae-stub