Lithobates sphenocephalus[1][3] or Rana sphenocephala,[4][5][6] commonly known as the southern leopard frog, is a medium-sized anuran in the family Ranidae (the true frogs). The southern leopard frog is one of the 36 species currently or formerly classified in the Rana genus found in North America.[7] It is native to eastern North America from Kansas to New York to Florida. It is also an introduced species in some areas.[1] This species lives in cool, clear water in the north, whereas in the south it occurs in warmer turbid and murky waters of coastal and floodplain swamps, twilight zones of caves, and abandoned mines.[8]
^Stejneger, L.H. and T. Barbour. (1917). A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. p. 39
^Frost, D.-R.; et al. (2009). "Response to the Point Of View of Gregory B. Pauly, David M. Hillis, and David C. Cannatella, by the Anuran Subcommittee of the SSRA/HL/ASIH Scientific and Standard English Names List". Herpetologica. 65 (2): 136–153. doi:10.1655/09-009R1.1. S2CID55147982.
^Hillis & Wilcox (2005), Hillis (2007), Stuart (2008), Pauly et al. (2009), AmphibiaWeb (2016)
^Conlon, J.M.; Halverson, T.; Dulka, J.; Platz, J.E.; Knoop, F.C. (1999). "Peptides of antimicrobial activity of the brevinin-1 family isolated from skin secretions of the southern leopard frog, Rana sphenocephala". The Journal of Peptide Research. 54 (6): 522–527. doi:10.1034/j.1399-3011.1999.00123.x.
^McAllister, Chris T.; Trauth, Stanley E.; Bursey, Charles R. (1995). "Parasites of the Pickerel Frog, Rana palustris (Anura: Ranidae), from the Southern Part of Its Range". The Southwestern Naturalist. 40 (1): 111–116. JSTOR30054403.