Leopard frog

Leopard frog
Southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Ranidae
Genus:	Lithobates
Species
See text.

See text.

A leopard frog (sometimes called a meadow frog) can mean any frog of about 14 species within the true frog genus Lithobates. They are generally similarly colored—green with prominent black spotting that sometimes appears as a leopard pattern. They are distinguished by their distribution and certain rather subtle ecological, behavioral, morphological and genetic traits. Their range in the North-American subcontinent extends throughout temperate and subtropical North America to northern Mexico, with some species found even further south. They are also found in Europe.

Leopard frogs (meadow frogs) were briefly grouped with the American bullfrog and relatives in the genus Lithobates.

Further species may exist in this famous cryptic species complex

In March 2012, it was announced that DNA testing had confirmed that a new species of leopard frog had been found whose habitat was centered near New York's Yankee Stadium and included Northern New Jersey, Southeastern New York, and Staten Island; the new still unnamed species is part of a cryptic species complex that was first distinguished by its short, repetitive croak, distinct from the "long snore" or "rapid chuckle" of other area leopard frog species. This species has now been identified as far south as southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. On 30 October 2014, it was announced that the frog which was found in March 2012, is a new species of leopard frog called Rana kauffeldi that once inhabited Manhattan, New York.

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