| Pool frog | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Ranidae |
| Genus: | Pelophylax |
| Species: | P. lessonae |
| Binomial name | |
| Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882) | |
| Synonyms | |
Rana lessonaeCamerano, 1882 | |
The pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) is a European frog in the family Ranidae. Its specific name was chosen by the Italian herpetologist Lorenzo Camerano in 1882, in order to honour his master Michele Lessona.
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]
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 Amphibiaweb populations of this frog survive in urban areas and even fisheries. The creation of new ponds and other bodies of water leads to increased dispersal and a growth in the population of these frogs. [3]
Pelophylax lessonae is one of only four amphibian species recognized by the UK government as protected under its Biodiversity Action Plan. The reasons for declining populations are decreased pond habitat from human encroachment and also air pollution leading to over-nitrification of pond waters.
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 Herpetological Conservation Trust website states that "The Pool Frog is a European frog and was formerly recorded from two sites in East Anglia although it was lost from one of these in the middle of the 19th century. It was presumed extinct in the wild at the last remaining site by 1995. A single individual known from this population survived in captivity until 1999. Other populations have become established in the UK and it is known that some of these included individuals of British origin in their founding stock."
An English Nature reintroduction project is underway in Breckland, where pool frogs were introduced to a single site in 2005.
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]
The edible frog is a species of common European frog, also known as the common water frog or green frog.
The common frog or grass frog, also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian of the family Ranidae, found throughout much of Europe as far north as Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of Iberia, Southern Italy, and the southern Balkans. The farthest west it can be found is Ireland. It is also found in Asia, and eastward to Japan. The nominative, and most common, subspecies Rana temporaria temporaria is a largely terrestrial frog native to Europe. It is distributed throughout northern Europe and can be found in Ireland, the Isle of Lewis and as far east as Japan.
The marsh frog is a species of water frog native to Europe and parts of western Asia.
The agile frog is a European frog in the genus Rana of the true frog family, Ranidae.
The northern red-legged frog is a species of amphibian, whose range is the coastal region stretching from southwest British Columbia to southern Mendocino County in Northern California, and is protected in Oregon and California. As a member of the genus Rana, this species is considered a true frog, with characteristic smooth skin and a narrow waist. This frog requires still waters for breeding, and is rarely found at any great distance from its breeding ponds or marshes.
The Italian pool frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. Found on the mainland of Italy and the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Elba, Corsica and Sardinia, its natural habitats are rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN.
The Karpathos frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to the island of Karpathos, South Aegean Sea, Greece. The Karpathos frog is considered the most endangered anuran amphibian in Europe because its range is restricted to two small rivers in the north part of the island.
Humerana lateralis is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is commonly known as Kokarit frog, yellow frog or (ambiguously) wood frog.
The Albanian water frog is a species of true frog and is native to Albania and Montenegro. As its common name suggests, it prefers aquatic environments. The Albanian water frog is an endangered species and known populations are currently in decline. Significant threats to its habitat are presented by pollution and by drainage of wetlands, and a more direct threat is the aggressive collection of the species for commercial purposes.
The Mediterranean painted frog or simply painted frog is a species of frog in the family Alytidae.
Pelophylax is a genus of true frogs widespread in Eurasia, with a few species ranging into northern Africa. This genus was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843 to accommodate the green frogs of the Old World, which he considered distinct from the brown pond frogs of Carl Linnaeus' genus Rana.
The fertile hybrids of European water frogs reproduce by hybridogenesis (hemiclonally). This means that during gametogenesis, they discard the genome of one of the parental species and produce gametes of the other parental species. The first parental genome is restored by fertilization of these gametes with gametes from the first species. In all-hybrid populations of the edible frog Pelophylax kl. esculentus, however, triploid hybrids provide this missing genome.
Leszek Berger was a Polish herpetologist and malacologist.
Celtic Reptile & Amphibian is a conservation company, established in 2020, by Harvey Tweats and Tom Whitehurst, with the aim of reintroducing extinct reptiles and amphibians back to rewilding projects within the UK. It is based in Leek, Staffordshire.
