Lithobates spectabilis (Hillis and Frost, 1985)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Ranidae > Genus: Lithobates > Species: Lithobates spectabilis

Rana spectabilis Hillis and Frost, 1985, Occas. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas, 117: 5. Holotype: KU 195186, by original designation. Type locality: "La Estanzuela, Hidalgo, México, elevation 2900 m".

Rana (Rana) spectabilis — Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 42, by implication.

Rana (Pantherana) spectabilis — Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 331; Yuan, Zhou, Chen, Poyarkov, Chen, Jang-Liaw, Chou, Matzke, Iizuka, Min, Kuzmin, Zhang, Cannatella, Hillis, and Che, 2016, Syst. Biol., 65: 835.

Rana (Novirana, Sierrana, Pantherana, Scurrilirana) spectabilis — 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.

Lithobates spectabilis — 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 (Lithobates) spectabilis — Dubois, 2006, C. R. Biol., Paris, 329: 830; Dubois, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 325.

Rana (Scurrilirana) spectabilis — Hillis, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 42: 335–336, by implication.

Common Names

Showy Leopard Frog (Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 26; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 109; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 17).

Distribution

Elevations of 1200–3200 m from central Jalisco aeast through northern Michoacán and the eastern part of the state of México and Morelos, north through Tlaxcala to Queretaro, eastern Hidalgo, and south through central Puebla and a small portion of western Veracruz to the highlands of northwestern Oaxaca, Mexico.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Mexico

Endemic: Mexico

Comment

Adult and larval morphology described in the original publication. In the Rana berlandieri subgroup of the Rana pipiens complex as defined by Hillis, Frost, and Wright, 1983, Syst. Zool., 32: 132–143. In the section Pelophylax, subgenus Pantherana, Rana berlandieri group of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 331. López-Mejía and Goyenechea Mayer Goyenechea, 2012, Herpetol. Rev., 43: 300, provided a range extension in Hidalgo, Mexico. Rodríguez-Canseco, Ayón-Escobedo, and González-Estupiñán, 2013, Herpetol. Rev., 44: 622, reported a locality in Jalisco, Mexico, and commented on the range. Rodríguez-Canseco and Quiroz, 2013, Herpetol. Rev., 44: 622, provided a record in Jalisco, Mexico, and commented on the range. García-Padilla and Mata-Silva, 2014, Herpetol. Rev., 45: 468, provided a record for the Municipality of San Pedro Totolapan, Oaxaca, Mexico, and briefly discussed the documented range in that state. Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2016, Amph. Rept. Hidalgo: 395–396, provided a brief account and map for Hidalgo, Mexico. Leyte-Manrique, Mata-Silva, Báez-Montes, Fucsko, De Santis, García-Padilla, Rocha, Johnson, Porras, and Wilson, 2022, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 16: 133–180, discussed the range and conservation status in Guanajuato, Mexico. Tepos-Ramírez, Garduño-Fonseca, Peralta-Robles, García-Rubio, and Cervantes Jiménez, 2023, Check List, 19: 269–292, discussed the distribution and conservation status of the species in Queretaro, Mexico. 

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