View source for True frog

{{Short description|Family of frogs}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = True frogs
| image = Cyprus water frog (Pelophylax cypriensis).jpg
| image_caption = [[Cyprus water frog]] (''Pelophylax cypriensis'')
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Ranidae
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1814
| synonyms = See [[#Systematics|text]]
}}

'''True frogs''' is the [[common name]] for the [[frog]] [[family (biology)|family]] '''Ranidae'''. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all [[continent]]s except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North America, northern South America, Europe, Africa (including [[Madagascar]]), and Asia. The Asian range extends across the [[East Indies]] to [[New Guinea]] and a single species, the [[Australian wood frog]] (''Hylarana daemelii''), has spread into the far north of Australia.

Typically, true frogs are smooth and moist-skinned, with large, powerful legs and extensively webbed feet. The true frogs vary greatly in size, ranging from small&mdash;such as the [[wood frog]] (''Lithobates sylvatica'')&mdash;to large.

Many of the true frogs are aquatic or live close to water. Most species lay their eggs in the water and go through a tadpole stage. However, as in most families of frogs, there is large variation of [[habitat]] within the family. There are also arboreal species of true frogs, and the family includes some of the very few [[amphibian]]s that can live in [[brackish water]].<ref name=gordon1961/><!-- this ref is only for brackish water species -->

== Evolution ==
The Ranidae are related to several other frog families that have [[Eurasia|Eurasian]] and [[India|Indian]] origins, including [[Rhacophoridae]], [[Dicroglossidae]], [[Nyctibatrachidae]], [[Micrixalus|Micrixalidae]], and [[Ranixalidae]]. They are thought to be most closely related to the Indian-endemic Nyctibatrachidae, from which they diverged in the early [[Eocene]]. However, other studies recover a closer relationship with the Dicroglossidae.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Feng |first1=Yan-Jie |last2=Blackburn |first2=David C. |last3=Liang |first3=Dan |last4=Hillis |first4=David M. |last5=Wake |first5=David B. |last6=Cannatella |first6=David C. |last7=Zhang |first7=Peng |date=2017-07-18 |title=Phylogenomics reveals rapid, simultaneous diversification of three major clades of Gondwanan frogs at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=114 |issue=29 |pages=E5864–E5870 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1704632114 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5530686 |pmid=28673970|doi-access=free |bibcode=2017PNAS..114E5864F }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The Ranidae began to disperse out of Asia at the end of the Eocene and by the beginning of the Miocene, colonized every continent except Antarctica. The Ranidae are known as cosmopolitan, able to be found in every continent, only excluding Antarctica. 

It was previously thought that the Ranidae and their closest relatives were of [[Gondwana|Gondwanan]] origins, having evolved on [[Insular India]] during the [[Cretaceous]]. They were then entirely restricted to the [[Indian subcontinent]] until the late [[Eocene]], when [[Paleogeography of the India–Asia collision system|India collided with Asia]], allowing the Ranidae to colonize Eurasia and eventually the rest of the world.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Bossuyt |first1=Franky |last2=Brown |first2=Rafe M. |last3=Hillis |first3=David M. |last4=Cannatella |first4=David C. |last5=Milinkovitch |first5=Michel C. |date=2006-08-01 |title=Phylogeny and Biogeography of a Cosmopolitan Frog Radiation: Late Cretaceous Diversification Resulted in Continent-Scale Endemism in the Family Ranidae |journal=Systematic Biology |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=579–594 |doi=10.1080/10635150600812551 |pmid=16857652 |issn=1076-836X|doi-access=free |hdl=1808/10752 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> However, more recent studies instead propose that the Ranidae originated in Eurasia, and their close relationship with India-endemic frog lineages is due to those lineages colonizing India from Eurasia during the [[Paleogene]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Karanth |first=K. Praveen |date=2021 |title=Dispersal vs. vicariance: the origin of India's extant tetrapod fauna |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5wb5p6dt |journal=Frontiers of Biogeography |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |doi=10.21425/F5FBG48678|s2cid=231519470 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Systematics==
The subdivisions of the Ranidae are still a matter of dispute, although most are coming to an agreement. Several former [[subfamily|subfamilies]] are now recognised as separate families ([[Petropedetidae]], [[Cacosterninae]], [[Mantellidae]], and [[Dicroglossidae]]). The genus ''[[Rana (genus)|Rana]]'' has now been split up and is much reduced in size.

While too little of the vast diversity of true frogs has been subject to recent studies to say something definite, as of mid-2008, studies are going on, and several lineages are recognizable.<ref name=cai2007/><ref name=kotaki2008/><ref name=stuart2008/>
* The genus ''[[Staurois]]'' is probably a very ancient offshoot of the main [[Raninae]] lineage.
* ''[[Amolops]]'' has been generally delimited as a [[monophyletic]] group.
* ''[[Odorrana]]'' and ''Rana'' plus some proposed minor genera (which probably ought to be included in the latter) form another group.
* A group including ''[[Clinotarsus]]'', ''[[Huia (frog)|Huia]]'' in the strict sense and ''[[Meristogenys]]''
* An ill-defined assemblage of ''[[Babina (frog)|Babina]]'', ''[[Glandirana]]'', ''[[Hylarana]]'', ''[[Pulchrana]]'', ''[[Sanguirana]]'', and ''[[Sylvirana]]'', as well as ''[[Hydrophylax (frog)|Hydrophylax]]'' and ''[[Pelophylax]]'', which are probably not [[monophyletic]]. Some authorities have treated them as [[junior synonym]]s of the genus ''[[Hylarana]]''.<ref name="amnh">{{cite web|url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/?action=references&id=21440|title=''Hylarana'' Tschudi, 1838|author=Amphibian Species of the World 5.5, an Online Reference|publisher=American Museum of Natural History}}</ref>
The following phylogeny of some genera was recovered by Che ''et al''., 2007 using [[Mitochondrial DNA|mitochondrial genes]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2007-04-01|title=Phylogeny of Raninae (Anura: Ranidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear sequences|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790306004891|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=43|issue=1|pages=1–13|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.11.032|issn=1055-7903|last1=Che |first1=Jing |last2=Pang |first2=Junfeng |last3=Zhao |first3=Hui |last4=Wu |first4=Guan-fu |last5=Zhao |first5=Er-mi |last6=Zhang |first6=Ya-Ping |pmid=17300963 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{{Clade|{{clade
|1=''[[Staurois]]''
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Amolops]]''
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Pelophylax]]''
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Clinotarsus]]''
|2=''[[Meristogenys]]''
}}
}}
}}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Pulchrana]]''
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Hylarana]]''
|2=''[[Sylvirana]]'' (1)
}}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Papurana]]''
|2=''[[Sylvirana]]'' (2)
}}
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Hydrophylax (frog)|Hydrophylax]]''
|2=''[[Indosylvirana]]''
}}
}}
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Sylvirana]]'' (3)
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Sylvirana]]'' (4)
|2=''[[Chalcorana]]''
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Glandirana]]''
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Pseudorana]]''
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Odorrana]]''
|2=''[[Nidirana]]''
}}
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Rana (genus)|Rana]]''
|2=''[[Lithobates]]''
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}}}

===Genera===
[[File:Rana ishikawae.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ishikawa's frog]] (''Odorrana ishikawae'')]]
[[File:Rana curtipes.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bicolored frog]] (''Clinotarsus curtipes''), related to ''[[Meristogenys]]'' and ''[[Huia (frog)|Huia]]'']]
Most of the subfamilies formerly included under Ranidae are now treated as separate families, leaving only Raninae remaining. The following genera are recognised in the family Ranidae:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-28 |title=Ranidae Batsch, 1796 {{!}} Amphibian Species of the World |url=https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/Amphibia/Anura/Ranidae |access-date=2023-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528115202/https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/Amphibia/Anura/Ranidae |archive-date=2023-05-28 }}</ref>

{{Div col}}
* ''[[Abavorana]]'' <small>Oliver, Prendini, Kraus, and Raxworthy, 2015</small> (three species)
* ''[[Amnirana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (11 species)
* ''[[Amolops]]'' <small>Cope, 1865</small> (80 species)
* ''[[Babina (frog)|Babina]]'' <small>Thompson, 1912</small> (two species)
* ''[[Chalcorana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (nine species)
* ''[[Clinotarsus]]'' <small>Mivart 1869</small> (three species)
* ''[[Glandirana]]'' <small>Fei, Ye, and Huang, 1990</small> (six species)
* ''[[Huia (frog)|Huia]]'' <small>Yang, 1991</small> (monotypic)
* ''[[Humerana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (four species)
* ''[[Hydrophylax (frog)|Hydrophylax]]'' <small>Fitzinger, 1843</small> (four species)
* ''[[Hylarana]]'' <small>Tschudi 1838</small> (four species)
* ''[[Indosylvirana]]'' <small>Oliver, Prendini, Kraus, and Raxworthy, 2015</small> (13 species)
* ''[[Lithobates]]'' <small>Fitzinger, 1843</small> (55 species)
* ''[[Meristogenys]]'' <small>Yang, 1991</small> (13 species)
* ''[[Nidirana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (19 species)
* ''[[Odorrana]]'' <small>Fei, Ye, and Huang, 1990</small> (64 species)
* ''[[Papurana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (19 species)
* ''[[Pelophylax]]'' <small>Fitzinger 1843</small> (19 species)
* ''[[Pseudorana]]'' <small>Fei, Ye, and Huang, 1990</small> (monotypic)
* ''[[Pterorana]]'' <small>Kiyasetuo and Khare, 1986</small> (monotypic)
* ''[[Pulchrana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (18 species)
* ''[[Rana (genus)|Rana]]'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> (58 species)
* ''[[Sanguirana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (six species)
* ''[[Staurois]]'' <small>Cope, 1865</small> (six species)
* ''[[Sumaterana]]'' <small>Arifin, Smart, Hertwig, Smith, Iskandar, and Haas, 2018</small> (three species)
* ''[[Sylvirana]]'' <small>Dubois, 1992</small> (12 species)
* ''[[Wijayarana]]'' <small>Arifin, Chan, Smart, Hertwig, Smith, Iskandar, and Haas, 2021</small> (five species)
{{div col end}}In 2023, ''[[Amphibian Species of the World]]'' tentatively synonymized ''[[Amnirana]]'', ''[[Chalcorana]]'', ''[[Humerana]]'', ''[[Hydrophylax (frog)|Hydrophylax]]'', ''[[Indosylvirana]]'', ''[[Papurana]]'', ''[[Pulchrana]]'', and ''[[Sylvirana]]'' into ''[[Hylarana]]'' until significant taxonomic confusion surrounding the group could be cleared up.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Hylarana'' Tschudi, 1838 |url=https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/Amphibia/Anura/Ranidae/Hylarana |website=Amphibian Species of the World}}</ref> These changes are not recognized by [[AmphibiaWeb]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=AmphibiaWeb - Ranidae |url=https://amphibiaweb.org/lists/Ranidae.shtml |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=amphibiaweb.org}}</ref>

=== ''Incertae sedis'' ===
A number of taxa are placed in Ranidae ''[[incertae sedis]]'', that is, their taxonomic status is too uncertain to allow more specific placement. 
* [["Hylarana" chitwanensis|"''Hylarana''" ''chitwanensis'']] <small>(Das, 1998)</small>
* [["Hylarana" garoensis|"''Hylarana''" ''garoensis'']] <small>(Boulenger, 1920)</small>
* [["Hylarana" latouchii|"''Hylarana''" ''latouchii'']] <small>(Boulenger, 1899)</small>
* [["Hylarana" margariana|"''Hylarana''" ''margariana'']] <small>Anderson, 1879</small>
* [["Hylarana" montivaga|"''Hylarana''" ''montivaga'']] <small>(Smith, 1921)</small>
* [["Hylarana" persimilis|"''Hylarana''" ''persimilis'']] <small>(Van Kampen, 1923)</small>
==See also==
*''[[Halipegus eccentricus]]'', a monoecious, digenea [[parasite|parasitic]] [[trematode]] commonly found in true frogs in North America

==References==
{{Commons category}}

{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=cai2007>{{aut|Cai, Hong-xia; Che, Jing; Pang, Jun-feng; [[:fr:Er-mi Zhao|Zhao, Er-mi]]; Zhang, Ya-ping}} (2007): Paraphyly of Chinese ''Amolops'' (Anura, Ranidae) and phylogenetic position of the rare Chinese frog, ''Amolops tormotus''. ''[[Zootaxa]]'' '''1531''': 49–55. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100203021712/http://www.amphibiatree.org/files/CaiETAL2008_AmolopsZootaxa.pdf PDF fulltext]</ref>
<ref name=gordon1961>{{aut|Gordon, Malcolm S.; [[Knut Schmidt-Nielsen|Schmidt-Nielsen, Knut]]; Kelly, Hamilton M.}} (1961): Osmotic Regulation in the Crab-Eating Frog (''Rana cancrivora''). ''[[Journal of Experimental Biology|J. Exp. Biol.]]'' '''38''' (3): 659–678. [http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/38/3/659.pdf PDF fulltext]</ref>
<ref name=kotaki2008>{{aut|Kotaki, Manabu; Kurabayashi, Atsushi; [[:fr:Masafumi Matsui|Matsui, Masafumi]]; Khonsue, Wichase; Djong, Tjong Hon; Tandon, Manuj; Sumida, Masayuki}} (2008): Genetic Divergences and Phylogenetic Relationships Among the ''Fejervarya limnocharis'' Complex in Thailand and Neighboring Countries Revealed by Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genes. ''[[Zoological Science|Zool. Sci.]]'' '''25''' (4): 381–390. {{doi|10.2108/zsj.25.381}} (HTML abstract)</ref>
<ref name=stuart2008>{{aut|[[:fr:Bryan L. Stuart|Stuart, Bryan L.]]}} (2008): The phylogenetic problem of ''Huia'' (Amphibia: Ranidae). ''[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.]]'' '''46''' (1): 49–60. {{doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2007.09.016}} [http://www.bryanlstuart.com/site/Publications_files/Stuart%202008%20Huia.pdf PDF fulltext]</ref>
}}
* {{aut|[[Harold Cogger|Cogger, H.G.]]; [[Richard G. Zweifel|Zweifel, R.G.]]; Kirschner, D.}} (2004): ''Encyclopedia of Reptiles & Amphibians'' (2nd ed.). Fog City Press. <small>{{ISBN|1-877019-69-0}}</small>
* {{aut|[[Darrel R. Frost|Frost, Darrel R.]]}} (2006): Amphibian Species of the World Version 3 - [https://web.archive.org/web/20080529231232/http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/references.php?id=15026 Petropedetidae Noble, 1931]. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Retrieved 2006-AUG-05.
* {{aut|Frost, Darrel R. et al.}} (2006): The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Number 297. New York.
* {{aut|[[David Hillis|Hillis, D.M.]]}} (2007) Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. ''[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.]]'' '''42''' (2): 331–338. <small>{{doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2006.08.001}}</small> [http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/679.pdf PDF fulltext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927114556/http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/679.pdf |date=2011-09-27 }}
* {{aut|Hillis, D.M.; Wilcox, T.P.}} (2005): Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (''Rana''). ''[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.]]'' '''34''' (2): 299–314. <small>{{doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.007}}</small> [http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/215.pdf PDF fulltext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528131608/http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/215.pdf |date=2008-05-28 }}
* {{Aut|Pauly, Greg B.; Hillis, David M.; [[:fr:David Charles Cannatella|Cannatella, David C.]]}} (2009): Taxonomic freedom and the role of official lists of species names. ''Herpetologica'' '''65''': 115–128.
*{{aut|[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque, C.S.]]}} (2007): "''Fine del prodromo d'erpetologia siciliana'' ". ''Specchio delle Scienze, o, Giornale Enciclopedico di Sicilia'' '''2''': 102–104. (Ranidae, new family). (in [[Italian language|Italian]]).

{{Anura}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6408}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:True frogs|*]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]