Rana (derived from Latinrana, meaning 'frog') is a genus of frogs commonly known as the Holarctic true frogs, pond frogs or brown frogs. Members of this genus are found through much of Eurasia and western North America. Many other genera were formerly included here.[1][2]
These true frogs are usually largish species characterized by their slim waists and wrinkled skin; many have thin ridges running along their backs, but they generally lack "warts" as in typical toads. They are excellent jumpers due to their long, slender legs. The typical webbing found on their hind feet allows for easy movement through water. Coloration is mostly greens and browns above, with darker and yellowish spots.
Distribution and habitat
Many frogs in this genus breed in early spring, although subtropical and tropicalspecies may breed throughout the year. Males of most of the species are known to call, but a few species are thought to be voiceless. Females lay eggs in rafts or large, globular clusters, and can produce up to 20,000 at one time.
Diet
Rana species feed mainly on insects and invertebrates, but swallow anything they can fit into their mouths,[citation needed] including small vertebrates. Among their predators are egrets, crocodiles, and snakes.
Systematics
Common frog (Rana temporaria), a member of the Eurasian clade and the type species of the genus and family as a wholeCalifornia red-legged frog (R. draytonii), a member of the North American clade and one of the largest members of the genus
Some 50 to 100 extant species are now placed in this genus by various authors; many other species formerly placed in Rana are now placed elsewhere. Frost[3] restricted Rana to the Old World true frogs and the Eurasian brown and pond frogs of the common frogR. temporaria group,[4] although other authors disagreed with this arrangement.[5][6][2][7] In 2016, a consortium of Rana researchers from throughout Europe, Asia, and North America revised the group, and reported that the arrangement of Frost (2006) resulted in nonmonophyletic groups.[8] Yuan et al. (2016)[9] included all the North American ranids within Rana, and used subgenera for the well-differentiated species groups within Rana. Both of these classifications are presented below.
New species are still being described in some numbers. A number of extinct species are in the genus, including Rana basaltica, from Miocene deposits in China.[10]
Species
The following species are recognised in the genus Rana:[11]
†?Rana yushensis (Early Pliocene of China, nomen nudum)
The earliest known fossils of true Rana are of an indeterminate species from the Early Miocene of Germany.[15] The paleosubspeciesRana temporaria fossilis was described in 1951 for articulated fossils from the late Eocene/early Oligocene of Bulgaria, but this taxonomic proposal was found to be invalid.[14]Rana likely originated in Asia and migrated west to colonize Europe by the early Miocene, as was done earlier by Pelophylax.[16]
Alternative classifications
AmphibiaWeb includes the following species, arranged in subgenera:
The harpist brown frog, Kampira Falls frog, or Yaeyama harpist frog was formerly known as R. psaltes; it was subsequently identified as the long-known R. okinavana. The latter name has been misapplied to the Ryūkyū brown frog, but the harpist brown frog is a rather distinct species that apparently belongs in Babina or Nidirana if these are considered valid.[17]
Dubois, A.; Ohler, A. (1995). Ogielska, M. (ed.). "Frogs of the subgenus Pelophylax (Amphibia, Anura, genus Rana): a catalogue of available and valid scientific names, with comments on the name-bearing types, complete synonymies, proposed common names, and maps showing all type localities". Zoologica Poloniae. II International Symposium on Ecology and Genetics of European water frogs, 18–25 September 1994, Wroclaw, Poland. 39 (3–4): 139–204.
