Lithobates blairi
—
Plains Leopard Frog
The genus Lithobates was split from Rana by Frost et al in 2006. This has been a controversial change ever since, and many authorities continue to use Rana.
This large, fat (gravid?) frog must have been quite confident of either its camouflage or its jumping ability, as it sat still in the leaf litter for at least fifteen minutes, quite some distance from the nearest water, while a small procession of photographers immortalized it digitally. This particular type of leopard frog can be distinguished from its lookalikes by the way its dorsolateral ridge stops has an inset piece near the groin.
Online references:
- Rana blairi account on AmphibiaWeb
- Lithobates blairi account on Amphibian Species of the World
Printed references:
- Conant, R., Collins, J. T. 1998. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition, expanded
- Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, Eighth Edition