Lithobates yavapaiensis (Platz and Frost, 1984)

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

Rana yavapaiensis Platz and Frost, 1984, Copeia, 1984: 940. Holotype: AMNH 117632, by original designation. Type locality: "Tule Creek (elev. 670 m), 34° 00′, 112° 16′, Yavapai Co[unty]., Arizona", USA.

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

Rana (Pantherana) yavapaiensis — 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) yavapaiensis — 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) yavapaiensis — Hillis and Wilcox, 2005, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 34: 305. Interpretation by Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 433, of the nomenclatural act of Hillis and Wilcox, 2005. 

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

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

Rana (Lithobates) yavapaiensis — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 433. 

Common Names

Lowland Leopard Frog (Platz and Frost, 1984, Copeia, 1984: 940; 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; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 239; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 9; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 17; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 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).

Yavapai Leopard Frog (Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 28; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 110).

Distribution

Formerly, low and moderate elevations in the drainage of the lower Colorado River and its tributaries in Nevada, California, Arizona, and New Mexico (USA), and northern Sonora to northwestern Chihuahua, and extreme northeastern Baja California del Norte (Mexico). Now extinct over large portions of its former distribution.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Mexico, United States of America, United States of America - Arizona, United States of America - California, United States of America - Nevada, United States of America - New Mexico

Comment

This species has not been collected in recent years in southern California nor along the lower Colorado River (where now replaced by introduced Rana berlandieri), though old specimens exist from both of these areas. The southern limit of distribution is poorly known. 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 equivalent Rana (Pantherana) berlandieri group of Dubois, 1992, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 61: 331. Reviewed by Platz, 1988, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 418: 1–2. See Clarkson and Rorabaugh, 1989, Southwest. Nat., 34: 531–538, for discussion of population declines and replacement by Rana berlandieri. Grismer, 2002, Amph. Rept. Baja California: 82, discussed the extirpation of this species of the Colorado drainage of northern Baja California, Mexico. Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 239, provided a brief account, figure, and map (and who commented on the disappearance of this species from large areas of its former distribution). Jennings and Painter, 2009, Herpetol. Rev., 40: 446, provided a record for western Chihuahua, Mexico. Sredl, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 596–599, provided a detailed account that summarized the literature of biology, range, and conservation. Dodd, 2013, Frogs U.S. and Canada, 2 : 681–636, provided an account that summarized relevant literature of the USA component of the range. Oláh-Hemmings, Jaeger, Sredl, Schlaepfer, Jennings, Drost, Bradford, and Riddle, 2010, J. Zool., London, 280: 343–354, reported on the molecular phylogeography of Lithobates onca and Lithobates yavapaiensis.  Elliot, Gerhardt, and Davidson, 2009, Frogs and Toads of N. Am.: 232–233, provided an account, photos, and advertisement call. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 240–241, provided an account of larval morphology and biology. Rorabaugh and Lemos-Espinal, 2016, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Sonora: 195–197, provided a detailed account of natural history, morphology, distribution, and conservation status in Sonora, Mexico. Painter, Stuart, Giermakowski, and Pierce, 2017, Western Wildlife, 4: 37, commented on the status and county range in New Mexico, USA. Gatica-Colima, Porras, Mata-Silva, De Santis, Rocha, and Johnson, 2024, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 18: 108–186, discussed the range and conservation status in Chihuahua, Mexico. 

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