Rana macrocnemis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	RANIDAE

Scientific Name:

Rana macrocnemis

Species Authority:

Boulenger, 1885

Common Name/s:

English

–

Long-legged Wood Frog

Synonym/s:

Rana camerani Boulenger, 1886

Rana macrocnemis subspecies camerani (Boulenger, 1886)

Taxonomic Notes:

We follow Veith et al. (2003), in considering Rana pseudodalmatina and R. tavasensis to be distinct at the species level, and regarding R. camerani to be conspecific with R. macrocnemis. However, we follow Çevik et al. (2006) and Baran et al. (2007) in considering Rana holtzi to be a valid species, contra Veith et al. (2003). There is ongoing discussion regarding the taxonomic distinctiveness of R. camerani.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published:

2009

Assessor/s:

Sergius Kuzmin, David Tarkhnishvili, Vladimir Ishchenko, Natalia Ananjeva, Nikolai Orlov, Boris Tuniyev, Max Sparreboom, Ismail Ugurtas, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani, Theodore Papenfuss, Steven Anderson, Güven Eken, Tuba Kiliç, Engin Gem, Uğur Kaya

Reviewer/s:

Neil Cox and Helen Temple

Contributor/s:

Justification:
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. In the Caucasus, this species is experiencing significant declines as a result of raccoons and deforestation.

History:

2004

–

Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is found in the Caucasus Mountains and throughout much of Anatolia, Turkey. An isolated population exists on the Strizhament Mountain in the Stavropolskii Region of Russia. It has been recorded from Iraq (Kevork 1972) but further details of this population are needed and it is not mapped here. It has an altitudinal range sea level to 3,000m asl.
Countries:	Native: Armenia (Armenia); Azerbaijan; Georgia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Russian Federation; Turkey
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This species is mostly common over its range. There are significant declines in parts of its range.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It is mainly found in humid areas included broadleaved, mixed and coniferous forests, swamps, steppes, sub alpine and alpine meadows. In dry areas this species is generally limited to areas close to permanent lakes, rivers, brooks and springs that are often surrounded by dense herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. It breeds in various stagnant and slow-flowing waterbodies. It is presumed to be tolerant of some habitat disturbance such as light grazing.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Habitat and Ecology:

It is mainly found in humid areas included broadleaved, mixed and coniferous forests, swamps, steppes, sub alpine and alpine meadows. In dry areas this species is generally limited to areas close to permanent lakes, rivers, brooks and springs that are often surrounded by dense herbaceous and shrubby vegetation. It breeds in various stagnant and slow-flowing waterbodies. It is presumed to be tolerant of some habitat disturbance such as light grazing.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	In the Caucasus of the former USSR destruction and pollution of suitable habitat by cattle has caused some local population declines. In the western Caucasus, this species is threatened by predation invasive introduced raccoons (Procyon lotor) and deforestation for agriculture and timber. The species is under pressure from grazing and development for tourism in Turkey. It is possible that deforestation (especially of Juniperus woods) might have contributed to the increasing aridity of the Kopet-Dagh Mountains in Turkmenia, leading to the extinction of the species. Prolonged drought might be a threat to populations in more arid areas.

Major Threat(s):

In the Caucasus of the former USSR destruction and pollution of suitable habitat by cattle has caused some local population declines. In the western Caucasus, this species is threatened by predation invasive introduced raccoons (Procyon lotor) and deforestation for agriculture and timber. The species is under pressure from grazing and development for tourism in Turkey. It is possible that deforestation (especially of Juniperus woods) might have contributed to the increasing aridity of the Kopet-Dagh Mountains in Turkmenia, leading to the extinction of the species. Prolonged drought might be a threat to populations in more arid areas.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	This species is listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan and has been recorded from protected areas in Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is found in protected areas in Turkey. This species was included in the supplement to the Red Data Book in Russia and several regional Red Data Books due to declines because of raccoon predation and habitat loss from deforestation.

Conservation Actions:

This species is listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan and has been recorded from protected areas in Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is found in protected areas in Turkey. This species was included in the supplement to the Red Data Book in Russia and several regional Red Data Books due to declines because of raccoon predation and habitat loss from deforestation.

Bibliography [top]

	1995. Amphibian Populations in the Commonwealth of Independent States: Current Status and Declines. Pensoft, Moscow. Anon. 1991. Standing Committee Recommendation n° 27 (1991) on the conservation of some threatened amphibians in Europe. Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Council of Europe. Anon. 2001. Froglog Shorts - Conservation News. FrogLog: 7. Anon. 2001. Toros Frogs under threat. Turkish Daily News. Baloutchi, M. and Kami, H.G. 1995. Amphibians of Iran. Tehran University Publications, Tehran. Bannikov, A.G., Darevsky, I.S., Ishchenko, V.G., Rustamov, A.K. and Szczerbak, N.N. 1977. Opredelitel Zemnovodnykh i Presmykayushchikhsya Fauny SSSR [Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the USSR Fauna]. Prosvechshenie, Moscow. Baran, I. and Atatür, M.K. 1998. Turkish herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles). Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment, Ankara. Baran, I., Ilgaz, C., Kumlutaş, Y., Olgun, K., Avci, A and Iret, F. 2007. On new populations of Rana holtzi and Rana macrocnemis (Ranidae: Anura). Turkish Journal of Zoology 31: 241-247. Baran, I., Tosunoĝlu, M., Kaya, U. and Kumlutaş, Y. 1997. Çamlihemşin (Rize) Herpetofaunasi Hakkinda. Turkish Journal of Zoology: 409-416. Çevik, I.E., Arikan, H., Kaya, U. and Atatür, M.K. 2006. Comparative morphological and serological studies of three Anatolian Mountain frogs, Rana macrocnemis, R. camerani and R. holtzi (Anura, Ranidae). Amphibia-Reptilia 27: 63-71. Demirsoy, A. 1996. Tükiye Omurgalilari, Sürüngenler. Meteksen, Ankara. Eken, G. and Magnin, G. 2000. A Preliminary Biodiversity Atlas of the Konya Basin, Central Turkey. Dogal Hayati Koruma Dernegi, Istanbul. Ishchenko, V.G. 1978. Dinamicheskii Polimophizm Burykh Lyagushek Fauny SSSR [Dynamic Polymorphism of the Brown Frogs of USSR Fauna]. Nauka, Moscow. IUCN. 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2009.1). Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 22 June 2009). Kevork, O.K. 1972. Rana camerani Boulenger from Iraq. Bulletin Iraq Natural History Museum 5(3): 9-15. Khalaf, K.T. 1959. Reptiles of Iraq with some notes on the amphibians. Ministry of Education Iraq, Baghdad. Kumlutaş, Y., Tok, V. and Türkozan, O. 1998. The Herpetofauna of the Ordu-Giresun Region. Turkish Journal of Zoology: 199-202. Kuzmin, S.L. 1995. Die Amphibien Russlands und Angrenzender Gebiete. Westarp – Spektrum, Magdeburg - Heidelberg. Kuzmin, S.L. 1996. Threatened amphibians in the former Soviet Union: the current situation and the main threats. Oryx: 24-30. Kuzmin, S.L. 1999. The Amphibians of the Former Soviet Union. Pensoft, Sofia-Moscow. Mazanaeva, L.F. 2000. The distribution of amphibians in Daghestan. Advances in Amphibian Research in the Former Soviet Union: 141-156. Özeti, N. and Yilmaz, I. 1994. Türkiye amphibileri. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi: 221. Rastegar-Pouyani, N. 2003. Conservation and systematics of amphibians of Kermanshah Province. Abstracts of the 8th Nordic Herpetological Symposium, Nordic Herpetological Society, Lund, Sweden. Schmidtler, J.F. 1998. Distributional patterns of the herpetofauna in the Taurus Mountains, Turkey (Amphibia; Reptilia). Faunistische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum fur Tierkunde Dresden: 133-148. Schmidtler, J.F., Eisel, J. and Sigg, H. 1990. Die subalpine herpetofauna des Bolkar-Gebirges (Mittlerer Taurus, Südtürkei). Herpetofauna: 11-20. Tarkhnishvili, D.N. and Gokhelashvili, R.K. 1999. The amphibians of the Caucasus. Advances in Amphibian Research in the Former Soviet Union: 1-229. Tarkhnishvili, D.N., Hille, A.A. and Bohme, W. 2001. Humid refugia, speciation and secondary introgression between evolutionary lineages: differentiation in a Near Eastern brown frog, Rana macrocnemis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society: 141-156. Tarkhnishvili, D.N., Thorpe, R.S. and Arntzen J.W. 1999. Morphological variation in brown frogs from the Caucasus and the taxonomy of the Rana macrocnemis group. Herpetologica: 406-417. Veith, M., Kosuch, J. and Vences, M. 2003. Climatic oscillations triggered post-Messinian speciation of Western Palearctic brown frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution: 310-327. Veith, M., Schmidtler, J.F., Kosuch, J., Baran, I. and Seitz, A. 2003. Paleoclimatic changes explain Anatolian mountain frog evolution: a test for alternating vicariance and dispersal events. Molecular Ecology: 185-199.

1995. Amphibian Populations in the Commonwealth of Independent States: Current Status and Declines. Pensoft, Moscow.

Anon. 1991. Standing Committee Recommendation n° 27 (1991) on the conservation of some threatened amphibians in Europe. Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Council of Europe.

Anon. 2001. Froglog Shorts - Conservation News. FrogLog: 7.

Anon. 2001. Toros Frogs under threat. Turkish Daily News.

Baloutchi, M. and Kami, H.G. 1995. Amphibians of Iran. Tehran University Publications, Tehran.

Bannikov, A.G., Darevsky, I.S., Ishchenko, V.G., Rustamov, A.K. and Szczerbak, N.N. 1977. Opredelitel Zemnovodnykh i Presmykayushchikhsya Fauny SSSR [Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the USSR Fauna]. Prosvechshenie, Moscow.

Baran, I. and Atatür, M.K. 1998. Turkish herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles). Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment, Ankara.

Baran, I., Ilgaz, C., Kumlutaş, Y., Olgun, K., Avci, A and Iret, F. 2007. On new populations of Rana holtzi and Rana macrocnemis (Ranidae: Anura). Turkish Journal of Zoology 31: 241-247.

Baran, I., Tosunoĝlu, M., Kaya, U. and Kumlutaş, Y. 1997. Çamlihemşin (Rize) Herpetofaunasi Hakkinda. Turkish Journal of Zoology: 409-416.

Çevik, I.E., Arikan, H., Kaya, U. and Atatür, M.K. 2006. Comparative morphological and serological studies of three Anatolian Mountain frogs, Rana macrocnemis, R. camerani and R. holtzi (Anura, Ranidae). Amphibia-Reptilia 27: 63-71.

Demirsoy, A. 1996. Tükiye Omurgalilari, Sürüngenler. Meteksen, Ankara.

Eken, G. and Magnin, G. 2000. A Preliminary Biodiversity Atlas of the Konya Basin, Central Turkey. Dogal Hayati Koruma Dernegi, Istanbul.

Ishchenko, V.G. 1978. Dinamicheskii Polimophizm Burykh Lyagushek Fauny SSSR [Dynamic Polymorphism of the Brown Frogs of USSR Fauna]. Nauka, Moscow.

IUCN. 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2009.1). Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 22 June 2009).

Kevork, O.K. 1972. Rana camerani Boulenger from Iraq. Bulletin Iraq Natural History Museum 5(3): 9-15.

Khalaf, K.T. 1959. Reptiles of Iraq with some notes on the amphibians. Ministry of Education Iraq, Baghdad.

Kumlutaş, Y., Tok, V. and Türkozan, O. 1998. The Herpetofauna of the Ordu-Giresun Region. Turkish Journal of Zoology: 199-202.

Kuzmin, S.L. 1995. Die Amphibien Russlands und Angrenzender Gebiete. Westarp – Spektrum, Magdeburg - Heidelberg.

Kuzmin, S.L. 1996. Threatened amphibians in the former Soviet Union: the current situation and the main threats. Oryx: 24-30.

Kuzmin, S.L. 1999. The Amphibians of the Former Soviet Union. Pensoft, Sofia-Moscow.

Mazanaeva, L.F. 2000. The distribution of amphibians in Daghestan. Advances in Amphibian Research in the Former Soviet Union: 141-156.

Özeti, N. and Yilmaz, I. 1994. Türkiye amphibileri. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi: 221.

Rastegar-Pouyani, N. 2003. Conservation and systematics of amphibians of Kermanshah Province. Abstracts of the 8th Nordic Herpetological Symposium, Nordic Herpetological Society, Lund, Sweden.

Schmidtler, J.F. 1998. Distributional patterns of the herpetofauna in the Taurus Mountains, Turkey (Amphibia; Reptilia). Faunistische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum fur Tierkunde Dresden: 133-148.

Schmidtler, J.F., Eisel, J. and Sigg, H. 1990. Die subalpine herpetofauna des Bolkar-Gebirges (Mittlerer Taurus, Südtürkei). Herpetofauna: 11-20.

Tarkhnishvili, D.N. and Gokhelashvili, R.K. 1999. The amphibians of the Caucasus. Advances in Amphibian Research in the Former Soviet Union: 1-229.

Tarkhnishvili, D.N., Hille, A.A. and Bohme, W. 2001. Humid refugia, speciation and secondary introgression between evolutionary lineages: differentiation in a Near Eastern brown frog, Rana macrocnemis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society: 141-156.

Tarkhnishvili, D.N., Thorpe, R.S. and Arntzen J.W. 1999. Morphological variation in brown frogs from the Caucasus and the taxonomy of the Rana macrocnemis group. Herpetologica: 406-417.

Veith, M., Kosuch, J. and Vences, M. 2003. Climatic oscillations triggered post-Messinian speciation of Western Palearctic brown frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution: 310-327.

Veith, M., Schmidtler, J.F., Kosuch, J., Baran, I. and Seitz, A. 2003. Paleoclimatic changes explain Anatolian mountain frog evolution: a test for alternating vicariance and dispersal events. Molecular Ecology: 185-199.

Citation:	Sergius Kuzmin, David Tarkhnishvili, Vladimir Ishchenko, Natalia Ananjeva, Nikolai Orlov, Boris Tuniyev, Max Sparreboom, Ismail Ugurtas, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani, Theodore Papenfuss, Steven Anderson, Güven Eken, Tuba Kiliç, Engin Gem, Uğur Kaya 2009. Rana macrocnemis. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 May 2013.
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