The Italian pool frog (''Pelophylax bergeri'') 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 family Ranidae. Found on the mainland of Italy and the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Elba, Corsica and Sardinia, 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

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 w ...

s, swamps, 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 and 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 a ...

es. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN.

Description

The Italian pool frog grows to a snout-to-vent length of about and has a pointed snout and triangular-shaped head. The tongue is notched and it has vomerine teeth in the roof of its mouth. The skin is smooth and not warty. The colour is variable and depends on the animal's location, but is usually some shade of green with black spots, but may be reddish-brown or grey. There is a pale stripe running along the centre of the back. The underparts are greyish-white marked with dark blotches and the hind legs have dark stripes. Males have a pair of external vocal sacs on either side of the mouth which are only visible when the animal is calling. The voice is a series of guttural croaks each lasting up to one and a half seconds.

Distribution and habitat

The Italian pool frog is native to the mainland of Italy, south of

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, and to the islands of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

and Corsica. It has been introduced into

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. Its typical habitat is sluggish streams and rivers, lakes and swamps and their environs, and it is present at altitudes of or more. It has been introduced into the United Kingdom but whether it persists there is unclear.

Status

The main threat to the Italian pool frog is the draining of its aquatic habitats; as a result of this, the population appears to be declining at a slow rate. However, the frog has a wide range, is common in many places and has a large total population, so 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 ...

has assessed it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1675170 Pelophylax Amphibians of Europe Amphibians described in 1985 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Description

Distribution and habitat

Status

See also

References