NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Southern Leopard Frog
Lithobates sphenocephalus (Cope, 1886)
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.
Southern Leopard Frog, Missouri Ozarks
Bob Warrick · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Lithobates sphenocephalus or Rana sphenocephala, commonly known as the southern leopard frog, is a medium-sized anuran in the family Ranidae (the true frogs). The southern leopard frog is one of the 36 species currently or formerly classified in the Rana genus found in North America. It is native to eastern North America from Kansas to New Jersey to Florida. It is also an introduced species in some areas.
Wikipedia contributors, Southern leopard frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:35:24.354803+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lithobates sphenocephalus (Cope, 1886)
- Name authority
- (Cope, 1886)
- Common name
- Southern 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 sphenocephalus (Cope, 1886)
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 |
| Tarahumara FrogLithobates tarahumarae (Boulenger, 1917) | 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 sphenocephala Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana utricularia Harlan, 1826 Harlan, 1826 | synonym |
| Rana utricularius Harlan, 1825 Harlan, 1825 | synonym |
| Rana halecina sphenocephala Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana sphenocephala utricularia Harlan, 1826 Harlan, 1826 | synonym |
| Rana sphenocephala utricularius Harlan, 1826 Harlan, 1826 | synonym |
| Rana sphenocephala sphenocephala Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Lithobates sphenocephalus utricularius (Harlan, 1826) (Harlan, 1826) | synonym |
| Lithobates sphenocephalus sphenocephalus (Cope, 1886) (Cope, 1886) | synonym |
| Rana pipiens sphenocephala Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana utricularia utricularia Harlan, 1826 Harlan, 1826 | synonym |
| Rana virescens sphenocephala Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana utricularia sphenocephala Cope, 1886 Cope, 1886 | synonym |
| Rana virescens virescens Cope, 1889 Cope, 1889 | 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=775116 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:3VHQX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.