The
edible frog or green frog (
Pelophylax kl.
esculentus) is a common European frog species that occurs naturally from the northern half of France to western Russia and from Estonia and Denmark to Bulgaria and northern Italy, and is also an
introduced species in other parts of the continent. It is a fertile
hybrid of the
pool frog (
Pelophylax lessonae) and the
marsh frog (
P. ridibundus) and
reproduces using hybridogenesis, a process in which one parental genome is excluded. The species is used as food – particularly in France, as well as Germany and Italy – as the delicacy
frog legs. This edible frog was photographed in the
Danube delta east of
Tulcea, Romania.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp