The Korean brown frog (''Rana coreana'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

in the genus ''Rana''. It is native to the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

and Shandong, China.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Korean brown frog has earlier mostly been considered as subspecies of ''

Rana amurensis ''Rana amurensis'' (Khabarovsk frog, Siberian wood frog, Heilongjiang brown frog or Amur brown frog) is a species of true frog found in northern Asia. It ranges across western Siberia, as well as northeastern China, northeastern Mongolia, and on ...

'', that is, ''R. a. coreana''. However, morphological and genetic analyses support its status as a distinct species, though closely related to ''R. amurensis''. The boundary between these two species is unclear. Until recently, Korean brown frog was considered Korean

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

. However, molecular and morphological evidence show ''Rana kunyuensis'' from

Mount Kunyu Mount Kunyu () is a group of scenic mountains in Shandong Peninsula, Shandong, China. It is located between the cities of Yantai 50 kilometers to the west and Weihai to the east. The highest point is Taibo Peak, at a height of 923 meters above sea ...

in the Shandong province of China is the same species as Korean brown frog and its junior synonym.

Description

It is the smallest of brown frogs in Korea, with males reaching up to and females to in snout-vent length.

Habitat and conservation

The Korean brown frog inhabits coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, shrublands, and grasslands. Most commonly it occurs in open, wet places (e.g.,

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologicall ...

s, swamps, riverbanks, floodplains, etc.). They breed in shallow

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or Artificiality, artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% Aquatic plant, emergent vegetation helps in disting ...

ditches A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

, large

puddle A puddle is a small accumulation of liquid, usually water, on a surface. It can form either by pooling in a depression on the surface, or by surface tension upon a flat surface. A puddle is generally shallow enough to walk through, and too sm ...

s, and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es. Hibernating frogs can be found in large numbers in the bottom mud of ponds and pools. Korean brown frog may be locally threatened by habitat loss, but this common species is not threatened overall. The now-synonymized ''Rana kunyuensis'' has been assessed as "

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessarily ...

" by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

(IUCN).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q587360 Rana (genus) Amphibians of China Amphibians of Korea Amphibians described in 1928