Wood frog

For other uses, see Wood frog (disambiguation).

Wood frog
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Lithobates
Species:
L. sylvaticus
Binomial name
Lithobates sylvaticus
(LeConte, 1825)
Geographic range of the wood frog in North America (in blue)
Synonyms
  • Rana sylvatica
    LeConte, 1825

Lithobates sylvaticus[1][2] or Rana sylvatica,[3] commonly known as the wood frog, is a frog species that has a broad distribution over North America, extending from the boreal forest of the north to the southern Appalachians, with several notable disjunct populations including lowland eastern North Carolina. The wood frog has garnered attention from biologists because of its freeze tolerance, relatively great degree of terrestrialism (for a ranid), interesting habitat associations (peat bogs, vernal pools, uplands), and relatively long-range movements.

The ecology and conservation of the wood frog has attracted research attention in recent years because they are often considered "obligate" breeders in ephemeral wetlands (sometimes called "vernal pools"), which are themselves more imperiled than the species that breed in them. The wood frog has been proposed to be the official state amphibian of New York.[4]

  1. ^ a b IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2015). "Lithobates sylvaticus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T58728A78907321. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T58728A78907321.en. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Frost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Yuan, Z.-Y.; et al. (2016). "Spatiotemporal diversification of the true frogs (genus Rana): A historical framework for a widely studied group of model organisms". Systematic Biology. 65 (5): 824–42. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syw055. hdl:2292/43460. PMID 27288482.
  4. ^ "Senate backs the wood frog — barely". Politico. 17 June 2015.