The Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis syn. Rana chiricahuensis) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae, the true frogs. Distribution and habitat It is native to Mexico and the United States (Arizona and New Mexico). The common name, as well as the specific name chiricahuensis, refers to the Chiricahua Mountains, AZ in which the species was first discovered. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, ponds, and open excavations.
Conservation It is threatened by habitat loss and chytridiomycosis to such an extent that it has been eliminated from 80% of its former habitat. The Phoenix Zoo, Arizona's Department of Game and Fish, and the USFWS are trying to mitigate threats through captive breeding and reintroduction efforts.Phoenix Zoo marks restoration of 10,000th frog to the wild. National Geographic (September 1, 2010).
Phylogeny A 2011 genetic analysis indicated that individuals of the northwestern Mogollon Rim population of L. chiricahuensis are indistinguishable from specimens of the extinct Vegas Valley leopard frog (Lithobates fisheri).
Lithobates subaquavocalis, also called the Ramsey Canyon leopard frog, is also conspecific with the Chiricahua leopard frog.
References
Further reading
Hillis, D. M., et al. (1983). Systematic Zoology 32, 132–43. Hillis, D. M. (1988). Systematics of the Rana pipiens complex: Puzzle and paradigm. Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology 19, 39–63. Hillis, D. M. and T. P. Wilcox. (2005). Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (Rana). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34(2), 299–314. Hillis, D. M. (2007). Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 42, 331–38. Platz, J. E. and J. S. Mecham. (1979). Rana chiricahuensis, a new species of leopard frog (Rana pipiens complex) from Arizona. Copeia 3, 383–90. (2004): Mitochondrial DNA sequences do not support species status of the Ramsey Canyon leopard frog (Rana subaquavocalis). J Herpetol 38:313–319. doi: 10.1670/117-03A