The showy leopard frog (''Lithobates spectabilis'') 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 family Ranidae

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 ...

to Mexico. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

s, freshwater

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 ...

s, and water storage areas. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

* (1983): Phylogeny and biogeography of the ''Rana pipiens'' complex: A biochemical evaluation. ''Systematic Zoology' 32: 132–143. * (1985): Three new species of leopard frogs (''Rana pipiens'' complex) from the Mexican Plateau. ''Occ. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas'' 117: 1–14. * (1988): Systematics of the ''Rana pipiens'' complex: Puzzle and paradigm. ''Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology'' 19: 39–63. * (2005): Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (''Rana''). '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 34(2): 299–314. PDF fulltext
* (2007) Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 42: 331–338. Lithobates Endemic amphibians of Mexico Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1985 Fauna of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt {{Ranidae-stub