Pool frog
Pool frog | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Anura |
Family: | Ranidae |
Genus: | Pelophylax |
Species: | P. lessonae
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Binomial name | |
Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882)
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Synonyms | |
Rana lessonae Camerano, 1882 |
The pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) is a
Description
The pool frog is a small frog which rarely grows to more than 8 cm long, although females can grow up to 9 cm. Males are typically around 5 cm long, while females are around 6–6.5 cm long. These frogs are brown or green, with dark blotches along their backs, a pair of ridges running from each eye and a cream or yellow stripe down the middle of the frog's back. The vocal sacs on the male are cream or even white.[2]
Distribution
The pool frog is found across most of central Europe from the west coast of northern France to the Western part of Russia. There are also small populations of pool frogs in the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden and Norway.[1] Pool frogs were previously thought to be a non-native species in the UK, but studies have shown that English pool frogs are related to the Swedish and Norwegian populations.[2]
The pool frog is found in damp areas with dense vegetation, or in calm, slow flowing rivers, ponds, bogs or marshes.[2]
According to
Pool frogs in Britain
Pelophylax lessonae is one of only four
The pool frog has not always been recognised as a native British species. Part of the reason for this is that specimens are known to have been introduced from southern Europe (though not from Scandinavia). However research has now shown that the potentially native UK pool frogs are closely related to Scandinavian frogs, not to frogs from further south. A native origin is most likely.[4]
The
An English Nature reintroduction project is underway in Breckland, where pool frogs were introduced to a single site in 2005.
Hybridogenesis
The edible frog Pelophylax kl. esculentus is a hybridogenetic hybrid of the pool frog Pelophylax lessonae and the marsh frog P. ridibundus. Its populations are maintained however through other crossings by hybridogenesis.[5]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ a b c "Pool Frog". www.froglife.org. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- ^ "AmphibiaWeb - Pelophylax lessonae". amphibiaweb.org. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- .
- ^ Berger, L. (1970). "Some characteristics of the crossess within Rana esculenta complex in postlarval development". Annales Zoologici. 27: 374–416.