Northern Leopard Frog
Lithobates pipiens (Schreber, 1782)
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.

Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens). Photo taken near Ottawa
Brian Gratwicke · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Lithobates pipiens formerly Rana pipiens, commonly known as the northern leopard frog, is a species of leopard frog from the true frog family, native to parts of Canada and the United States. It is the state amphibian of Minnesota and Vermont.
Wikipedia contributors, Northern leopard frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:34:19.944671+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lithobates pipiens (Schreber, 1782)
- Name authority
- (Schreber, 1782)
- Common name
- Northern 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 pipiens (Schreber, 1782)
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 brachycephala Cope, 1889 Cope, 1889 | synonym |
| Rana burnsi Weed, 1922 Weed, 1922 | synonym |
| Rana noblei Schmidt, 1925 Schmidt, 1925 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens Schreber, 1782 Schreber, 1782 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens kandiyohi Weed, 1922 Weed, 1922 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens pipiens Schreber, 1782 Schreber, 1782 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens burnsi Weed, 1922 Weed, 1922 | synonym |
| Rana pipiens brachycephala Cope, 1889 Cope, 1889 | synonym |
| Rana virescens brachycephala Cope, 1889 Cope, 1889 | synonym |
| Rana kandiyohi Weed, 1922 Weed, 1922 | synonym |
| Rana burnsorum Weed, 1922 Weed, 1922 | 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=775108 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.
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:3VHQP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.