North American True Frogs Lithobates   Ftizinger, 1843
An adult L. blairi (left) and L. sphenocephalus, both from east-central Kansas Image © Suzanne L. Collins, 2007
Taxonomic Comments:
Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, De Sá, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green & Wheeler (2006. The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297: 1-370) divided the North American (north of México) members of the Family Ranidae into two genera, the North American True Frogs (Lithobates Fitzinger, 1843) and Pacific True Frogs (Rana Linnaeus, 1758). Che et al. (2007 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43: 1-13) provided additional evidence to support the recommendation of Frost et al. (2006; see above) that North American ranid frogs be placed in two genera, Rana and Lithobates.