NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Rio Grande Leopard Frog
Lithobates berlandieri (Baird, 1859)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Rio Grande leopard frog (Lithobates berlandieri or Rana berlandieri) is a species of aquatic frog native to the southern United States in Texas and New Mexico, and south through Mexico and Central America. It is also sometimes referred to as the Mexican leopard frog. The epithet berlandieri is in honor of the naturalist Jean Louis Berlandier, who worked for the Mexican government on one of the first biological surveys of Texas.
Wikipedia contributors, Rio Grande leopard frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:37:46.090131+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lithobates berlandieri (Baird, 1859)
- Name authority
- (Baird, 1859)
- Common name
- Rio Grande Leopard Frog
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Ranidae
- Genus
- Lithobates
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyRanidae Batsch, 1796
- genusLithobates Fitzinger, 1843
- speciesLithobates berlandieri (Baird, 1859)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Lithobates. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Crawfish FrogLithobates areolatus (Baird & Girard, 1852) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates dunni (Zweifel, 1957) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vegas Valley Leopard FrogLithobates fisheri (Stejneger, 1893) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates lemosespinali (Smith & Chiszar, 2003) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates lenca (Luque-Montes, Austin, Weinfurther, Wilson, Hofmann & Townsend, 2018) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates macroglossa (Brocchi, 1877) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates miadis (Barbour & Loveridge, 1929) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates neovolcanicus (Hillis & Frost, 1985) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pickerel FrogLithobates palustris (LeConte, 1825) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates pustulosus (Boulenger, 1883) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lithobates spectabilis (Hillis & Frost, 1985) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Leopard FrogLithobates sphenocephalus (Cope, 1886) | RanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Rana austricola Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana berlandieri Baird, 1859 Baird, 1859 | synonym |
| Rana halecina berlandieri Baird, 1859 Baird, 1859 | synonym |
| Rana halecina austricola Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana virescens berlandieri Baird, 1859 Baird, 1859 | synonym |
| Rana berlandieri berlandieri Baird, 1859 Baird, 1859 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens austricola Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens berlandieri Baird, 1859 Baird, 1859 | synonym |
| Rana virescens austricola Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=775079 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3VHPN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.