Marsh Frog
Encyclopedia
The Marsh Frog is the largest frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 native to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and belongs to the family of true frog
True frog
The true frogs, family Ranidae, have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on most continents except Antarctica...

s. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Edible Frog
Edible Frog
The Edible Frog is a name for a common European frog, also known as the common water frog or green frog . It is used for food, particularly in France for the delicacy frog legs...

 and Pool Frog
Pool Frog
The Pool Frog is a European frog. It is one of only four amphibian species recognized by the UK government as protected under its Biodiversity Action Plan. The reasons for declining populations are decreased pond habitat from human encroachment and also air pollution leading to...

. These three species, now again in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Pelophylax
Pelophylax
Pelophylax is a genus of true frogs widespread in Eurasia, with a few species ranging into northern Africa. This genus was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843 to accommodate the "green frogs" of the Old World, which he considered distinct from the brown pond frogs of Linnaeus' genus Rana.They are...

, are often referred to as "green frogs" to distinguish them from the more terrestrial European Rana
Rana (genus)
Rana is a genus of frogs. Species include such archetypal pond frogs as the common frog of Europe, brown frogs, and the New and Old World true frogs, including the various species of leopard frogs and the American bullfrog. Members of this genus are found through much of Eurasia, North America,...

species, which are known as "brown frogs" (best exemplified by the Common Frog
Common Frog
The Common Frog, Rana temporaria also known as the European Common Frog or European Common Brown Frog is found throughout much of Europe as far north as well north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and as far east as the Urals, except for most of Iberia, southern Italy, and the southern Balkans...

 Rana temporaria).

Characteristics

The Marsh Frog is a water-dwelling, generally green-colored frog species. It can reach a maximum length of 17 centimetres, but males remain smaller (around 12 cm). The head is proportionally large and the hind legs are long, which gives them excellent jumping abilities.

There is a large variation in colour and pattern, ranging from dark green to brown or grey, sometimes with some lighter green lines; a lighter line on the back is generally present. The Western European populations are generally dark green to black with dark spots on the back and sides and three clear green lines on the back.

Diet

The diet of the Marsh Frog consists of dragonflies
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...

 and other insects, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

s, earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...

s and slug
Slug
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

s. Larger frogs also eat small rodents and sometimes smaller amphibians and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

.

Distribution

The green frog occurs in the largest part of Europe, in Asian Russia to Afghanistan and Pakistan and in the Chinese province of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

. They prefer a water temperature of approximately 15 degrees Celsius.

It is now distinguished from Pelophylax kurtmuelleri (Balkan Frog), which it resembles greatly, and which outnumbers it in most of Greece.
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