Aquarana virgatipes (Cope, 1891)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Ranidae > Genus: Aquarana > Species: Aquarana virgatipes

Rana virgatipes Cope, 1891, Am. Nat., 25: 1017. Syntype(s): Not designated but ANSP 10759–64, according to Malnate, 1971, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 123: 353. Type locality: "cut-off of a tributary of the Great Egg Harbor River in Atlantic county, New Jersey"; revised to "tributary of Great Egg Harbor . . . . Mare Run", above May's Landing, Atlantic County, New Jersey, USA, by Fowler, 1905, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 57: 662.

Rana (Rana) virgatipes — Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 41, by implication.

Rana (Aquarana) virgatipes — Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 331; Hillis, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 335–336, by implication; Yuan, Zhou, Chen, Poyarkov, Chen, Jang-Liaw, Chou, Matzke, Iizuka, Min, Kuzmin, Zhang, Cannatella, Hillis, and Che, 2016, Syst. Biol., 65: 835. 

Rana (Novirana, Aquarana) virgatipes — Hillis and Wilcox, 2005, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 34: 305. See Dubois, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 317–330, Hillis, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 331–338, and Dubois, 2007, Cladistics, 23: 390–402, for relevant discussion of nomenclature. Invalid name formulation under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) as discussed by Dubois, 2007, Cladistics, 23: 395.

Rana (Novirana) virgatipes — Hillis and Wilcox, 2005, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 34: 305. Interpretation of Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 432, of the nomenclatural act of Hillis and Wilcox, 2005. 

Lithobates virgatipes — Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, de Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler, 2006, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 297: 369; Che, Pang, Zhao, Wu, Zhao, and Zhang, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 43: 1–13; by implication.

Lithobates (Aquarana) virgatipes — Dubois, 2006, C. R. Biol., Paris, 329: 829; Dubois, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 325.

Rana (Lithobates) virgatipes — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 432. 

Aquarana virgatipes — Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 424. 

Common Names

Cope's Frog (Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 159).

Sphagnum Frog (Fowler, 1905, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 57: 662; Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 120; Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 39; Myers, 1929, Copeia, 170: 23).

Carpenter Frog (Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 120; Brimley, 1915, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 30: 7; Myers, 1929, Copeia, 170: 23; Wright, 1932, Life Hist. Frogs Okefinokee Swamp, 2: 14; Wright and Wright, 1933, Handb. Frogs Toads U.S. Canada: xi; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 81; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 177; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 340; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 13; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 110; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 13; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 16; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 9; Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 19; Frost, Lemmon, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 16).

Distribution

Coastal plain of the Atlantic coast from central New Jersey to northeastern Florida, USA.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Delaware, United States of America - Florida, United States of America - Georgia, United States of America - Maryland, United States of America - New Jersey, United States of America - North Carolina, United States of America - South Carolina, United States of America - Virginia

Endemic: United States of America

Comment

In the Rana catesbeiana group of XXX. In the equivalent Rana clamitans group of Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 41, and in the equivalent subgenus Aquarana of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 331. Given, 1987, Herpetologica, 43: 467–481, reported on vocalizations. Reviewed by Gosner and Black, 1968, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 67. Data presented by Pytel, 1986, Herpetologica, 42: 273, suggest that careful evaluation for cryptic species are warranted. Austin, Lougheed, Moler, and Boag, 2003, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 80: 613, suggested that this species is the sister taxon of the remaining member of the Rana catesbeiana group. Hardy, 1973, HISS News J., 1: 153, provided a record for northwestern Virginia. Mitchell, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 595–596, provided a detailed account that summarized the literature of biology, range, and conservation. Dodd, 2013, Frogs U.S. and Canada, 2 : 674–681, provided an account that summarized relevant literature. Elliot, Gerhardt, and Davidson, 2009, Frogs and Toads of N. Am.: 202–203, provided an account, photos, and advertisement call. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 239–240, provided an account of larval morphology and biology.

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