Lithobates macroglossa (Brocchi, 1877)

Common Names

Guatemala Plateau Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 108).

Browns' Leopard Frog (Rana brownorum [no longer recognized]: Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 27).

Brown's Leopard Frog (Rana brownorum [no longer recognized]: Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 16).

Browns' Frog (Rana brownorum [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 106).

Central American Waterfrog (Rana brownorum [no longer recognized]: (Hedges, Powell, Henderson, Hanson, and Murphy, 2019, Caribb. Herpetol., 67: 15). 

Taylor's Leopard Frog (Lithobates taylor [no longer recognized]: Salazar-Saavedra, 2025, Rev. Nicaraguense Biodiversidad, 114: 23).

Peralta Frog (Rana taylori [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 109).

Rana Leopardo de Taylor (Spanish: Lithobates taylor [no longer recognized]: Salazar-Saavedra, 2025, Rev. Nicaraguense Biodiversidad, 114: 23).

Distribution

Southern Veracruz and northeastern Oaxaca east through the Yucatan Peninsula and the uplands of Chiapas through western and central Guatemala to Nicaragua, to southeastern Costa Rica and in the humid premontane and lower montane areas of upland Costa Rica, including the Meseta Oriental and Meseta Occidental and probably the Cordillera Central; south-central Panama in Tonosi and Santa Fe Districts of Los Santos Province, Panamá.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama

Comment

Subgenus Rana, Rana berlandieri subgroup of the Rana pipiens group as defined by Hillis, Frost, and Wright, 1983, Syst. Zool., 32: 132–143. In the equivalent Rana (Pantherana) berlandieri group of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 331. The name Rana macroglossa apparently applies to a member of the Lithobates pipiens group through the lectotype designation according to Smith, Lynch, and Reese, 1966, Bull. Zool. Nomencl., 23: 169–173, and Hillis, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 502. Considered synonymous with Rana maculata by Holman and Birkenholz, 1963, Herpetologica, 19: 144-146. Not assigned to subgenus by Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 305–352. See comments by Sunyer, Páiz, Dehling, and Köhler, 2009, Herpetol. Notes, 2: 189–202, regarding Nicaraguan populations of nominal Rana taylori. See map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Rana macroglossa) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 506. Köhler, 2011, Amph. Cent. Am.: 291, discussed the ambiguity of application of the name and suggested that there is no way to distinguish this taxon morphologically from Lithobates forreri and Lithobates brownorum, and because of this did not recognize this species. Hillis and Wilcox, 2005, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 34:  299–314, reported specimens extending the range from Guatemala to San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Although Rana brownorum was tentatively considered a species distinct from Rana berlandieri by Hillis, 1981, Copeia, 1981: 312–319, subsequently authors (e.g., Lee, 1996, Amph. Rept. Yucatan Peninsula: 123, and Campbell, 1998, Amph. Rept. N. Guatemala Yucatan Belize: 71, Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 404) did not accept the distinction but data suggestive of synonymizing them has not been disclosed. Zaldívar-Riverón, León-Regagnon, and Nieto-Montes de Oca, 2004, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 30: 38–49, recognized Rana brownorum on the basis of molecular evidence. See account (as Rana taylori) by Greding, 1969, Herpetologica, 25: 56–58. Lips and Savage, 1996, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 109: 17–26, included this species (as Rana taylori) in a key to the tadpoles found in Costa Rica. See account (as Rana taylori) by Savage, 2002, Amph. Rept. Costa Rica: 400–402, who noted an undescribed species in the same complex from the Cordillera de Talamanca and another from western Panama. McCranie, 2007, Herpetol. Rev., 38: 38, summarized the departmental distribution of Lithobates brownorum in Honduras. Köhler, 2011, Amph. Cent. Am.: 291–295, provided a brief summary of natural history and identification key for the species of Lithobates in Central America and provided a range map and photograph for this species. See comments by Sunyer, Páiz, Dehling, and Köhler, 2009, Herpetol. Notes, 2: 189–202, regarding Nicaraguan populations of nominal Rana taylori. Köhler, 2011, Amph. Cent. Am.: 291–295, provided a brief summary of natural history and identification key for the species of Lithobates in Central America and provided a range map and photograph for this species. Flores, de Gracia, and Rivas, 2017, Herpetol. Rev., 48: 383, provided a record of Lithobates taylori for Panama and briefly discussed the range. See comments by McCranie, Sunyer, and Martínez-Fonseca, 2019, Rev. Nicaraguense Biodiversidad, 52: 11.

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• For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist