Ranoidea raniformis (Keferstein, 1867)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hylidae > Subfamily: Pelodryadinae > Genus: Ranoidea > Species: Ranoidea raniformis

Chirodryas raniformis Keferstein, 1867, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen, 18: 358. Holotype: ZIUG 93h (collection now transferred to ZFMK) and presumed lost according to Böhme and Bischoff, 1984, Bonn. Zool. Monogr., 19: 168, and Böhme, 2014, Mertensiella, 21: 87. Type locality: "Australien"; given as "New South Wales?", Australia, by Duellman, 1977, Das Tierreich, 95: 117.

Hyla aurea raniformis — Parker, 1938, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 11, 2: 302.

Hyla aurea major Copland, 1957, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 82: 79. Holotype: QVM 1939.120, by original designation. Type locality: "Collins Gap, T[asmania].", Australia. Synonymy by Moore, 1961, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 121: 313, and Courtice and Grigg, 1975, Aust. Zool., 18: 155. Treatment as a species; without discussion, by Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 6.

Hyla aureus raniformis — Copland, 1963, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 88: 105.

Litoria aurea raniformis — Tyler, 1971, Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., 19: 354.

Litoria raniformis — Courtice and Grigg, 1975, Aust. Zool., 18: 149, 157.

Ranoidea major — Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 6.

Ranoidea raniformis — Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 6.

Dryopsophus raniformis — Duellman, Marion, and Hedges, 2016, Zootaxa, 4104: 40.

Ranoidea raniformis — Dubois and Frétey, 2016, Dumerilia, 6: 21. 

Litoria raniformis raniformis — Vörös, Wassens, Price, Hunter, Myers, Armstrong, Mahony, and Donnellan, 2023, Zootaxa, 5228: 1.

Litoria raniformis major — Vörös, Wassens, Price, Hunter, Myers, Armstrong, Mahony, and Donnellan, 2023, Zootaxa, 5228: 1.

Common Names

Southern Bell Frog (Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2: 106; Tyler and Knight, 2009, Field Guide Frogs Aust.: 38; Cogger, 2018, Rept. Amph. Australia, 7th ed.: 185).

Growling Grass Frog (Hero, Littlejohn, and Marantelli, 1991, Frogwatch Field Guide Victorian Frogs: XXX).

Warty Bell Frog (Anonymous, 1999, Threatened Vert. Fauna Victoria: XXX).

Green and Gold Frog (Common usage, Tasmania).

Blue-thighed Treefrog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 60)

Green and Golden Frog (Martin and Littlejohn, 1982, Tasman. Amph.: 7).

Distribution

Southeastern Australia from southeastern South Australia, throughout Victoria and New South Wales exclusive of the coast; Tasmania 0–1300 m elevation. Introduced into New Zealand.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Australia

Endemic: Australia

Introduced: New Zealand

Comment

In the Litoria aurea group of Tyler and Davies, 1978, Aust. J. Zool., Suppl. Ser., 27 (63): 12, and the Litoria aurea complex of Barker, Grigg, and Tyler, 1995, Field Guide Aust. Frogs., Ed. 2: 100. See Courtice and Grigg, 1975, Aust. Zool., 18: 149–163, Tyler, 1978, Amph. S. Aust.: 36–37; and Maxson, Tyler, and Maxson, 1982, Aust. J. Zool., 30: 643. New Zealand record by Wells and Wellington, 1985, Aust. J. Herpetol., Suppl. Ser., 1: 62. Martin and Littlejohn, 1982, Tasman. Amph.: 28–29, provided a brief account for the Tasmanian population. Bell, 1982, in Newman (ed.), New Zealand Wildlife Serv. Occas Publ., 2: 29–31, provided a brief chronology for the introduction of this species into New Zealand. Lever, 2003, Naturalized Rept. Amph. World: 188–189, discussed the introduced population in New Zealand. Vörös, Mitchell, Waldman, Goldstein, and Gemmell, 2008, Austral Ecol., 33: 623–629, suggested that the New Zealand population was introduced from Victoria, Australia, and that the Australian populations may constitute at least two species. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 260. See brief account by Tyler and Knight, 2009, Field Guide Frogs Aust.: 38–39. Hale, Heard, Smith, Parris, Austin, Kearney, and Melville, 2013, Conserv. Genetics, 14: 313–322, reported on molecular landscape genetics. Cogger, 2018, Rept. Amph. Australia, 7th ed.: 185, provided a brief account (as Litoria piperata), photograph, and polygon distribution map. Cutajar, Portway, Gillard, and Rowley, 2022, Tech. Rep. Aust. Mus. Online, 36: 31, provided a polygon distribution map (as Litoria raniformis). Vörös, Wassens, Price, Hunter, Myers, Armstrong, Mahony, and Donnellan, 2023, Zootaxa, 5228: 1–43, reported on the phylogeography of the species and suggested that Ranoidea castanea is phylogenetically imbedded within this species.  

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.