The Chiricahua leopard frog (''Lithobates chiricahuensis''
syn. ''Rana chiricahuensis'') is a species of
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...
in the family
Ranidae, the true frogs.
Distribution and habitat
It is native to Mexico and the United States (
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
and
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
). The common name, as well as the specific name ''chiricahuensis'', refers to the Chiricahua Mountains, AZ in which the species was first discovered. Its natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...
s are temperate
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s,
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
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 often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater
marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
es, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater
springs,
pond
A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...
s, and open excavations.
Conservation
It is threatened by
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
and
chytridiomycosis to such an extent that it has been eliminated from 80% of its former habitat.
The
Phoenix Zoo
The Phoenix Zoo opened in 1962 and is the largest privately owned nonprofit zoo in the United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the zoo was founded by Robert Maytag, a member of the Maytag family, and operates on of land in the Papago Park ...
, 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 ...
provided evidence that the northwestern Mogollon Rim population of ''L. chiricahuensis'' is indistinguishable from specimens of the
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce 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 organism ...
with the Chiricahua leopard frog.
References
Further reading
*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