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Rana luteiventris

(Great Basin spotted frog)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Great Basin spotted frog, columbia spotted frog

Description

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Physical Description

Species Rana luteiventris

May be tan, gray, brown, reddish-brown or red above with irregular-shaped black spots with indistinct edges and light centers. They have upturned eyes, relatively short hind legs and extensive webbing between the toes of the hind feet. Females reach sizes of up to 4 inches in snout-ventor length and become larger than males which reach up to 3 inches in length. They have a light stripe on the lower jaw and dorsolateral folds or ridges are usually present.

The undersides are usually cream colored , but the lower abdomen and the undersides of the hind legs are usually colored by a reddish-orange or salmon-colored pigment. However, in some populations of the Columbia Spotted Frog in Nevada, Utah, Idaho south of the Salmon River and southeast Oregon (but not in the Blitzen River or its tributaries) the underside tends to be yellow.

Tadpoles : iris with iridophores in life; lower jaw sheath narrow to medium; length of one part of A-2/width ca. 0.2; P-2/P-3 1.5; P-1 with medial gap ; midventral marginal papillae small; submarginal papillae few to absent; dorsal fin originates near tail-body junction and forms moderate arch; white lip line absent; general coloration uniform dark to gray.

Habitat

Ecology: It is highly aquatic ; rarely found far from permanent quiet water; usually occurs at the grassy/sedgy margins of streams , lakes , ponds , springs , and marshes (Hodge 1976, Licht 1986). Animals may disperse into forest , grassland, and brush land during wet weather. Breeds usually in shallow water in ponds or other quiet waters. See Munger et al. (1998) for quantitative information on habitat in southwestern Idaho.[1].

List of Habitats:

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Rana luteiventris Thompson, 1913

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 01-Sep-2009

Green, Kaiser, Sharbel, Kearsley and McAllister (1997) recognized Rana luteiventris as a distinct species from Rana pretiosa. (Ref. 303000).

Similar Species

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The Columbia Spotted Frog and the Oregon Spotted Frog were long regarded as the same species (the Spotted Frog, Rana pretiosa). Earlier studies suggested that there was sufficient regional variation to warrant divided populations among two subspecies. More extensive data has shown , however, that these morphological differences were not consistent and the subspecies designations were abandoned. Since then, however, studies looking at genetic differences between populations found sufficiently large differences to conclude that Rana pretiosa consisted of at least two cryptic species, now called R. luteiventris and R. pretiosa, with distributions as shown in the range map (see Green et al. 1997 for more details). Although the two species can not be reliably distinguished by morpholology, the two species have allopatric (non-overlapping) ranges, so they may be reliably identified based upon the location where a frog is found.

The range map also shows the historical ranges where the Oregon Spotted Frog has not been found for quite some time and is thought to have been extirpated. If you do find an Oregon Spotted Frog in these areas report it a state herpetologist. Possible reasons for this decline are the introduction of the American Bullfrog, which preys on smaller frogs, and general habitat alteration and loss through intensified agriculture, grazing and urbanization. The range shown in the map follows Green et al. (1997).

Members of the genus Rana

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 132 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

R. adenopleura (Olive Frog) · R. amurensis (Siberian Wood Frog) · R. andersonii (Yunnan Odorous Frog) · R. areolata (Northern Crawfish Frog) · R. areolata aesopus (Crawfish Frog) · R. areolata areolata (Southern Crawfish Frog) · R. areolata circulosa (Northern Crawfish Frog) · R. arfaki (Arfak Mountains Frog) · R. arvalis (Altai Brown Frog (Altai Mountains Populations)) · R. asiatica (Central Asiatic Frog) · R. asperata (Yangambi Butterbarbel) · R. aurantiaca (Golden Frog) · R. aurora (California Red-Legged Frog) · R. aurora aurora (Northern Red-Legged Frog) · R. aurora draytonii (California Red-Legged Frog) · R. baramica (Baram River Frog) · R. bergeri (Italian Poolfrog) · R. berlandieri (Rio Grande Leopard Frog) · R. blairi (Plains Leopard Frog) · R. boylii (Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog) · R. boylii boylii (Foothill Yellow Legged Frog) · R. brownorum (Brown's Leopard Frog) · R. bwana (Rio Chipillico Frog) · R. camerani (Iranian Long-Legged Frog) · R. capito (Carolina Gopher Frog) · R. capito aesopus (Florida Gopher Frog) · R. capito capito (Carolina Gopher Frog) · R. capito sevosa (Dusky Gopher Frog) · R. cascadae (Cascades Frog) · R. catesbeiana (North American Bullfrog) · R. chalconota (Schlegel's Java Frog) · R. chapaensis (Chapa Frog) · R. chensinensis (Asiatic Grass Frog) · R. chiricahuensis (Chiricahua Leopard Frog) · R. clamitans (Bronze Frog) · R. clamitans clamitans (Bronze Frog) · R. clamitans melanota (Northern Green Frog) · R. cubitalis (Siam Frog) · R. daemeli (Australian Wood Frog) · R. dalmatina (Agile Frog) · R. draytonii (California Red-Legged Frog) · R. dunni (Patzcuaro Frog) · R. dybowskii (Dybowski's Frog) · R. emelijanovi (Imeinpo Station Frog) · R. esculenta (Edible Frog) · R. fasciata (Tanganyika Striped Grass Frog) · R. fisheri (Las Vegas Leopard Frog) · R. forreri (Forrer's Grass Frog) · R. galamensis (Galam White-Lipped Frog) · R. glandulosa (Sarawak Frog) · R. graeca (Greek Stream Frog) · R. grylio (Pig Frog) · R. heckscheri (River Frog) · R. hecksheri (River Frog) · R. hejiangensis (Hejiang Frog) · R. holsti (Holst's Frog) · R. holtzi (Taurus Frog) · R. hosii (Mount Dulit Frog) · R. iberica (Iberian Frog) · R. ishikawae (Ishikawa's Frog) · R. italica (Italian Stream Frog) · R. japonica (Japanese Brown Frog) · R. johnsi (John's Groove-Toed Frog) · R. juliani (Maya Mountains Frog) · R. latastei (Italian Agile Frog) · R. lessonae (Pool Frog) · R. livida (Green Cascade Frog) · R. luteiventris (Great Basin Spotted Frog) · R. macrocnemis (Iranian Long-Legged Frog) · R. macroglossa (Guatemala Plateau Frog) · R. maculata (Highland Frog) · R. magnaocularis (Northwest Mexico Leopard Frog) · R. malabarica (Fungoid Frog) · R. maosonensis (Mo-Son Frog) · R. melanomenta (Sulu Frog) · R. montezumae (Montezuma Leopard Frog) · R. muscosa (Southern Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog) · R. narina (Ryukyu Island Frog) · R. neovolcanica (Transverse Volcanic Leopard Frog) · R. nicobariensis (Nicobar Island Frog) · R. nigromaculata (Black-Spotted Pond Frog) · R. nigromaculata nigromaculata (Black-Spotted Pond Frog) · R. nigrovittata (Black-Striped Frog) · R. okaloosae (Florida Bog Frog) · R. okaloossae (Florida Bog Frog) · R. omiltemana (Guerreran Leopard Frog) · R. onca (Relict Leopard Frog) · R. ornativentris (Montane Brown Frog) · R. palmipes (Amazon River Frog) · R. palustris (Pickerel Frog) · R. perezi (Perez's Frog) · R. pipiens (Northern Leopard Frog) · R. pipiens pipiens (Northern Leopard Frog) · R. pleuraden (Yunkwei Plateau Frog) · R. pretiosa (Oregon Spotted Frog) · R. pustulosa (Cascade Frog) · R. pyrenaica (Pyrenean Frog) · R. raniceps (Peters' Malaysian Frog) · R. ridibunda (European Green Frog) · R. rugosa (Wrinkled Frog)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Geoffrey Hammerson 2004. Rana luteiventris. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-14