Vegas Valley leopard frog

History

A. Vanderhorst collected 10 specimens of this species at Tule Springs on January 13, 1942. These frogs were believed to be the last recorded specimens of the Vegas Valley leopard frog, and are now in the University of Michigan Museum of Comparative Zoology collection. The Vegas Valley leopard frog was considered extinct after extensive searches have failed to locate the species.

Taxonomy

In 2011, a genetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA from preserved museum specimens of the Vegas Valley leopard frog revealed it forms a clade with the northwestern Mogollon Rim populations of the Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis), which is extant but threatened. The authors argue that while it has been extirpated from the Las Vegas area, the frog is not extinct because populations formerly ascribed to the Chiricahua leopard frog actually belong to the Vegas Valley leopard frog. The 2021 revision of the IUCN Red List assessment does not recognize the northwestern Mogollon Rim populations as belonging to the Vegas Valley leopard frog and lists the species as extinct.

The close relation of the Vegas Valley leopard frog to populations of the Chiricahua leopard frog has called into question whether the two represent distinct species, and some contemporary authors treat the two as conspecific. According to nomenclatural priority, L. chiricahuensis, described in 1979, would be referable to the 1893-described L. fisheri. However, multiple authorities still refer to the two as distinct species.

References

References

1. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. 2022. ''Lithobates fisheri''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T19148A54357815. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T19148A54357815.en. Accessed on 15 December 2022.
2. "''Lithobates fisheri''. NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
3. (2025-04-01). "Characterizing population structure and documenting rapid loss of genetic diversity in Chiricahua leopard frogs (Lithobates chiricahuensis) with high throughput microsatellite genotyping". Conservation Genetics.
4. (2025-05-13). "Distinguishing species boundaries from geographic variation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
5. "Lithobates fisheri (Stejneger, 1893) {{!}} Amphibian Species of the World".
6. Bhanoo, S. N. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/science/21obfrog.html?ref=science A frog endangered but extinct no more.] ''New York Times'' June 17, 2011. Accessed June 17, 2011.
7. Jennings, R.D., Riddle, B.R. and Bradford, D. (1995) Rediscovery of ''Rana onca'', the relict leopard frog, in southern Nevada with comments on the systematic relationships of some leopard frogs (''Rana pipiens'' complex) and the status of populations along the Virgin River. Unpublished report.
8. (2011). "Resurrecting an extinct species: Archival DNA, taxonomy, and conservation of the Vegas Valley leopard frog". Conservation Genetics.
9. Linsdale, J. M.. (1940). "Amphibians and reptiles of Nevada". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
10. (June 17, 2011). "Breathing life into an extinct species". Machines Like Us.
11. (June 17, 2011). "'Extinct' frog was under our noses all the time". New Scientist.
12. Platz, J. E. (1984) Status report for ''Rana onca'' Cope. Unpublished report prepared for Office of Endangered Species, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
13. Center for Biological Diversity and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (2002) [http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/SPECIES/relictfrog/Petition.PDF Petition to list the relict leopard frog (''Rana onca'') as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act]. biologicaldiversity.org
14. Stebbins, R. C. (1951) Amphibians of western North America. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
15. Stebbins, R. C. 1985. A field guide to western reptiles and amphibians. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.. Mild. Nat. 77:323–355 {{ISBN. 039538253X.