Lithobates virgatipes (Cope, 1891)

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

English 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.

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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