Added 3 January 2005. Last updated 8 January 3: removed genera now assigned to Ceratobatrachidae, Dicroglossidae, Nyctibatrachidae, Pyxicephalidae and Ranixalidae to the correct family.

Family Ranidae

Introduction

The family Ranidae contains 38 genera and over 700 species. The following is a list of the genera and their general characteristics and distribution.

Please note that owing to the vast size of this family this list is a work in progress.

January 2023 note

The following changes have been made:

Afrana is now reassigned to Amietia, which in turn is reassigned to Pyxicephalidae;

Aubria, Conraua, Strongylopus and Tomopterna are likewise reassigned to Pyxicephalidae;

Batrachylodes, Ceratobatrachus, Discodeles, Palmatorappia and Platymantis are now reassigned to Ceratobatrachidae;

Euphlyctis, Fejervarya, Hoplobatrachus, Ingerana, Limnonectes, Minervarya, Nannophrys, Occidozyga and Sphaerotheca are now reassigned to the Dicroglossidae;

Chaparana and Paa are now reassigned to Nanorana, which is turn is reassigned to Dicroglossidae;

Indirana is reassigned to Ranixalidae;

Micrixalus is reassigned to Micrixalidae;

Lankanectes and Nyctibatrachus is now reassigned to Nyctibatrachidae;

Lanzarana and Ptychadena are now reassigned to Ptychadenidae;

Pseudoamolops is now reduced to 1 species (sauteri) and reassigned to Rana.

Genus	Common Name	No. of species	Distribution	Notes
Abovarana	River Frogs	3
Amnirana	White-Lipped Frogs	11
Amolops	Cascade Frogs, Sucker Frogs	79	Mainly China
Babina		2
Chalcorana		10	SE Asia
Clinotarsus		3	India, SE Asia
Glandirana	Glandular Frogs	5
*Hildebrandtia*	Ornate Frogs	3		Ptychanedidae
Huia	Huia Frogs	5
Humerana		4
Hydrophylax		4	S & SE Asia
Hylarana	Golden-Backed Frogs	4	S & SE Asia	Greatly reduced number of species: formerly 86-96.
Indirana	Indian Frogs	9		Ranixalidae
Indosylvirana		13	S & SE Asia
Ingerana	Eastern Frogs	10
Lankanectes	Sri Lankan Frogs	1		Nyctibatrachidae
Lanzarana	Lanza's Frog	1		Ptychadenidae
Lithobates	American Bullfrog, Leopard Frogs, Gopher Frogs, Crawfish Frogs	50	The Americas	This genus is not accepted by all authorities: some retain these species as members of Rana.
Meristogenys	Borneo Frogs	13	Borneo
Micrixalus	Tropical Frogs	11		Micrixalidae
Nannophrys	Streamlined Frogs	3
Nidirana	Music Frogs	17	SE & E Asia
Nyctibatrachus	Night Frogs	11
Odorrana	Odorous Frogs	68?
Papurana		18
Pelophylax	Green Frogs, Water Frogs	26
Pseudorana	Weining Frog, Weining Groove-Toed Frog	1
Pterorana		1
Ptychadena	Ridged Frogs, Grass Frogs	47
Pulchrana		18	SE Asia
Pyxicephalus	African Bullfrogs	3		Pyxicephalidae
Rana	Pond Frogs, Brown Frogs, Holarctic True Frogs	0	Eurasia [some classification schemes include North American species also]
Sanguirana		9	Malay Archipelago
Sphaerotheca		7
Staurois	Splash Frogs	6
Sylvirana		12
Wijayarana		5

Bibliography

Keeping and Breeding Amphibians, Chris Mattison, Blandford Press,

The Proper Care of Amphibians, John Coborn, TFH, 1992. Although I have been often critical of Coborn's books in the past - some, notably on lizards, have contained erroneous information - this is not a bad one. It is very useful for an oversight of all the amphibian families and contains some information on many species which are rarely seen in captivity.

Frogs, Toads and Treefrogs, RD and Patricia P Bartlett, Barron's Educational Series, 1996. This is a good book for details on the captive husbandry of the most common anurans you are likely to see offered in the pet trade.

Urania Tierreich: Fische, Lurche, Kriechtiere (various authors, but edited I believe by Professor Kurt Deckert: amphibian contributor was Dr Günther Freytag), Urania-Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig. Part of a 6-volume encyclopedia set on the animal kingdom and perhaps comparable to Grzimek's volumes, this volume provides a very useful overview of all the genera and many representative species.

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