(
Rana temporaria), a member of the Eurasian clade and the
type species of the genus and family as a whole (
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 restricted
Rana to the Old World true frogs and the Eurasian brown and pond frogs of the
common frog R. temporaria group, although other authors disagreed with this arrangement. 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. Yuan et al. (2016) 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. Genera recently split from
Rana are
Babina,
Clinotarsus (including
Nasirana),
Glandirana,
Hydrophylax,
Hylarana,
Lithobates,
Odorrana (including
Wurana),
Pelophylax,
Pulchrana,
Sanguirana, and
Sylvirana. Of these,
Odorrana and
Lithobates are so closely related to
Rana proper, they could conceivably be included here once again. The others seem to be far more distant relatives, in particular
Pelophylax.
Species The following species are recognised in the genus
Rana: •
Rana amurensis (
Boulenger, 1886) – Siberian tree frog, Siberian wood frog, Amur brown frog •
Rana arvalis – Moor frog •
Rana asiatica – Central Asiatic frog, Asian frog •
Rana aurora – Northern red-legged frog •
Rana boylii – Foothill yellow-legged frog •
Rana cascadae – Cascades frog •
Rana chaochiaoensis – Chaochiao frog •
Rana chensinensis – Asiatic grass frog, Chinese brown frog •
Rana chevronta – Chevron-spotted brown frog •
Rana coreana – Korean brown frog •
Rana dalmatina – Agile frog •
Rana draytonii – California red-legged frog •
Rana dybowskii – Dybowski's frog •
Rana graeca – Greek stream frog, Greek frog •
Rana hanluica •
Rana huanrenensis – Huanren frog •
Rana iberica – Iberian frog •
Rana italica – Italian stream frog •
Rana japonica – Japanese brown frog •
Rana jiemuxiensis – Jiemuxi brown frog •
Rana johnsi – Johns' groove-toed frog •
Rana kobai – Ryukyu brown frog •
Rana kukunoris – Plateau brown frog •
Rana latastei – Italian agile frog, Lataste's frog •
Rana longicrus – Taipa frog •
Rana luanchuanensis •
Rana luteiventris – Columbia spotted frog •
Rana macrocnemis – Long-legged wood frog, Caucasus frog, Turkish frog, Brusa frog •
Rana maoershanensis •
Rana muscosa – Southern mountain yellow-legged frog •
Rana matsuoi – Goto Tago’s brown frog •
Rana neba •
Rana omeimontis – Omei brown frog, Omei wood frog •
Rana ornativentris – Montane brown frog, Nikkō frog •
Rana pirica – Hokkaidō frog •
Rana pretiosa – Oregon spotted frog •
Rana pseudodalmatina •
Rana pyrenaica – Pyrenean frog, Pyrenees frog •
Rana sakuraii – Stream brown frog, Napparagawa frog •
Rana sauteri – Sauter's brown frog, Kanshirei village frog, Taiwan groove-toed frog, Taiwan pseudotorrent frog •
Rana sangzhiensis – Sangzhi frog, Sangzhi groove-toed frog •
Rana shuchinae – Sichuan frog •
Rana sierrae – Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Sierra Nevada Mountain yellow-legged frog •
Rana tagoi – Tago's brown frog •
Rana tavasensis – Tavas frog •
Rana temporaria – Common frog, European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog •
Rana tsushimensis – Tsushima brown frog, Tsushima leopard frog •
Rana uenoi •
Rana ulma – Okinawa frog •
Rana zhengi •
Rana zhenhaiensis – Zhenhai brown frog
*Rana maoershanensis is likely not its own species, according to new genetic research.'', a fossil species from China The following fossil species are also known: • †
Rana architemporaria (Pliocene of Japan) • †
Rana basaltica (Miocene of China) • †?
Rana hipparionum (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of China,
nomen dubium) • †
Rana pliocenica (Late Miocene of California) • †
Rana muelleri (Pleistocene of Germany) • †
Rana strausi (Late Pliocene of Germany) • †?
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. The
paleosubspecies Rana 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.
Alternative classifications AmphibiaWeb includes the following species, arranged in subgenera: Subgenus
Amerana (Pacific brown frogs) •
Rana aurora –
northern red-legged frog •
Rana boylii –
foothill yellow-legged frog •
Rana cascadae –
Cascades frog •
Rana draytonii –
California red-legged frog •
Rana luteiventris –
Columbia spotted frog •
Rana muscosa – southern
mountain yellow-legged frog •
Rana pretiosa –
Oregon spotted frog •
Rana sierrae –
Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Sierra Nevada Mountain yellow-legged frog Subgenus
Aquarana (North American water frogs) •
Rana catesbeiana Shaw, 1802 – American bullfrog •
Rana clamitans Latreille, 1801 – green frog,
bronze frog,
northern green frog •
Rana grylio Stejneger, 1901 – pig frog •
Rana heckscheri Wright, 1924 – river frog •
Rana okaloosae Moler, 1985 – Florida bog frog •
Rana septentrionalis Baird, 1854 – mink frog •
Rana virgatipes Cope, 1891 – carpenter frog Subgenus
Lithobates (neotropical true frogs) •
Rana bwana Hillis and de Sá, 1988 –
Rio Chipillico frog •
Rana juliani Hillis and de Sá, 1988 –
Maya Mountains frog •
Rana maculata Brocchi, 1877 •
Rana palmipes Spix, 1824 –
Amazon River frog •
Rana vaillanti Brocchi, 1877 –
Vaillant's frog •
Rana vibicaria (Cope, 1894) •
Rana warszewitschii Schmidt, 1857 Subgenus
Liuhurana •
Rana shuchinae Liu, 1950 Subgenus
Pantherana (leopard, pickerel and gopher frogs) •
Rana areolata Baird and Girard, 1852 – crawfish frog •
Rana berlandieri Baird, 1859 – Rio Grande leopard frog •
Rana blairi Mecham
et al., 1973 – plains leopard frog •
Rana brownorum Sanders, 1973 – Gulf Coast leopard frog •
Rana capito LeConte, 1855 – Carolina gopher frog •
Rana chichicuahutla Cuellar, Méndez-De La Cruz, and Villagrán-Santa Cruz, 1996 •
Rana chiricahuensis Platz and Mecham, 1979 – Chiricahua leopard frog •
Rana dunni Zweifel, 1957 – Lake Patzcuaro frog •
Rana fisheri Stejneger, 1893 – Mogollon Rim leopard frog •
Rana forreri (
Boulenger, 1883) – Forrer's leopard frog •
Rana kauffeldi Feinberg et al., 2014 –
Atlantic Coast leopard frog •
Rana lemosespinali Smith and Chiszar, 2003 •
Rana lenca (Luque-Montes
et al., 2018) •
Rana macroglossa Brocchi, 1877 •
Rana magnaocularis Frost and Bagnara, 1974 •
Rana megapoda Taylor, 1942 •
Rana miadis Barbour and Loveridge, 1929 •
Rana montezumae Baird, 1854 •
Rana neovolcanica Hillis and Frost, 1985 •
Rana omiltemana Günther, 1900 •
Rana onca Cope, 1875 – relict leopard frog •
Rana palustris LeConte, 1825 – pickerel frog •
Rana pipiens Schreber, 1782 – northern leopard frog •
Rana sevosa Goin and Netting, 1940 – dusky gopher frog •
Rana spectabilis Hillis and Frost, 1985 – brilliant leopard frog •
Rana sphenocephala Cope, 1886 – southern leopard frog •
Rana taylori Smith, 1959 – Peralta frog •
Rana tlaloci Hillis and Frost, 1985 –
Tlaloc's leopard frog •
Rana yavapaiensis Platz and Frost, 1984 – lowland leopard frog Subgenus
Pseudorana (Weining brown frog) •
Rana weiningensis Subgenus
Rana (Eurasian brown frogs) •
Rana amurensis –
Siberian tree frog, Siberian wood frog, Amur brown frog •
Rana arvalis –
moor frog •
Rana asiatica –
Central Asiatic frog, Asian frog •
Rana camerani –
long-legged wood frog •
Rana chaochiaoensis –
Chaochiao frog •
Rana chensinensis –
Asiatic grass frog, Chinese brown frog •
Rana chevronta –
chevron-spotted brown frog •
Rana coreana –
Korean brown frog •
Rana culaiensis –
Culai brown frog •
Rana dalmatina –
agile frog •
Rana dybowskii –
Dybowski's frog •
Rana graeca –
Greek stream frog, Greek frog •
Rana hanluica •
Rana holtzi –
long-legged wood frog •
Rana huanrenensis –
Huanren frog •
Rana iberica –
Iberian frog •
Rana italica –
Italian stream frog •
Rana japonica –
Japanese brown frog •
Rana jiemuxiensis –
Jiemuxi brown frog •
Rana johnsi –
Johns' groove-toed frog •
Rana kobai –
Ryukyu brown frog •
Rana kukunoris –
plateau brown frog •
Rana latastei –
Italian agile frog, Lataste's frog •
Rana longicrus –
Taipa frog •
Rana macrocnemis –
long-legged wood frog, Caucasus frog, Turkish frog, Brusa frog •
Rana maoershanensis •
Rana neba •
Rana omeimontis – Omei brown frog, Omei wood frog •
Rana ornativentris –
montane brown frog, Nikkō frog •
Rana pirica –
Hokkaidō frog •
Rana pseudodalmatina •
Rana pyrenaica –
Pyrenean frog, Pyrenees frog •
Rana sakuraii –
stream brown frog, Napparagawa frog •
Rana sangzhiensis •
Rana sauteri –
Sauter's brown frog, Kanshirei village frog, Taiwan groove-toed frog, Taiwan pseudotorrent frog •
Rana tagoi –
Tago's brown frog •
Rana tavasensis –
Tavas brown frog •
Rana temporaria –
common frog, European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog •
Rana tsushimensis –
Tsushima brown frog, Tsushima leopard frog •
Rana uenoi •
Rana ulma •
Rana wuyiensis – Wuyi brown frog •
Rana zhengi •
Rana zhenhaiensis –
Zhenhai brown frog •
Rana zhijinensis Luo, Xiao & Zhou, 2022 – Zhijin brown frog Subgenus
Zweifelia (Mexican torrent frogs) •
Rana johni Blair, 1965 •
Rana psilonota Webb, 2001 •
Rana pueblae Zweifel, 1955 •
Rana pustulosa (
Boulenger, 1883) •
Rana sierramadrensis Taylor, 1939 •
Rana tarahumarae (
Boulenger, 1917) – Tarahumara frog •
Rana zweifeli Hillis, Frost, and Webb, 1984 – Zweifel's frog
Incertae sedis (no assigned subgenus) •
Rana dabieshanensis Wang
et al., 2017 •
Rana luanchuanensis Zhao and Yuan, 2017 •
Rana sylvatica LeConte, 1825 – wood frog
Notes on other taxonomic arrangements: 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.
Phylogeny Cladogram after Martínez‐Gil et al. 2025: ==References==