The
Pool Frog (
Pelophylax lessonae) is a
EuropeEurope 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 water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an
frogFrogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
. It is one of only three
amphibianAmphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians, are ectothermic animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, to an adult air-breathing form. Though amphibians typically have four limbs, the Caecilians are notable for being limbless. Unlike other land...
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
recognized by the UK government as protected under its
Biodiversity Action PlanThis article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP .A Biodiversity Action Plan is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems. The original impetus for these plans derives...
. The reasons for declining populations are decreased
pondA pond is an inland body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar...
habitat from
human encroachmentOverpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. In common parlance, the term usually refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth....
and also
air pollutionAir pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the atmosphere....
leading to over-nitrification of pond waters. Its
specific nameIn zoological nomenclature, a specific name is the second part in the name of a species...
was choosen by the italian
herpetologistHerpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and of reptiles .Herpetology is concerned with poikilothermic,...
Lorenzo CameranoLorenzo Camerano was an Italian herpetologist and entomologist.Born in Biella in 1856 he studied in Bologna and Torino, where settled in order to follow, between 1871 and 1873, a painting course held by Fontanesi at the local Art Academy.Camerano worked as a painter for the Turin Zoology Museum,...
in order to honour his master Michele Lessona.
The Pool Frog has not always been recognised as a native British species.
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The
Pool Frog (
Pelophylax lessonae) is a
EuropeEurope 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 water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an
frogFrogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
. It is one of only three
amphibianAmphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians, are ectothermic animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, to an adult air-breathing form. Though amphibians typically have four limbs, the Caecilians are notable for being limbless. Unlike other land...
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
recognized by the UK government as protected under its
Biodiversity Action PlanThis article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP .A Biodiversity Action Plan is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems. The original impetus for these plans derives...
. The reasons for declining populations are decreased
pondA pond is an inland body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar...
habitat from
human encroachmentOverpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. In common parlance, the term usually refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth....
and also
air pollutionAir pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the atmosphere....
leading to over-nitrification of pond waters. Its
specific nameIn zoological nomenclature, a specific name is the second part in the name of a species...
was choosen by the italian
herpetologistHerpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and of reptiles .Herpetology is concerned with poikilothermic,...
Lorenzo CameranoLorenzo Camerano was an Italian herpetologist and entomologist.Born in Biella in 1856 he studied in Bologna and Torino, where settled in order to follow, between 1871 and 1873, a painting course held by Fontanesi at the local Art Academy.Camerano worked as a painter for the Turin Zoology Museum,...
in order to honour his master Michele Lessona.
Pool Frogs in Britain
The Pool Frog has not always been recognised as a native British species. Part of the reason for this is that other similar species are known to have been introduced. However research has now shown that a native origin is most likely.
The
Herpetological Conservation TrustThe Herpetological Conservation Trust is a British wildlife charity for the conservation of herpetofauna: amphibians and reptiles. It was founded in 1989 by Vincent Weir and Ian Swingland of DICE and launched at the First World Congress of Herpetology in Canterbury that year...
website states that "The Pool Frog was formerly recorded from two sites in
East AngliaEast Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
although it was lost from one of these in the middle of the 19th century. It was presumed extinct in the wild at the last remaining site by 1995. A single individual known from this population survived in captivity until 1999. Other populations have become established in the UK and it is known that some of these included individuals of British origin in their founding stock."
An
English NatureEnglish Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...
reintroduction project is underway in
BrecklandThe Breckland as a landscape region is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that exists in the north of the county of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna it lies to the south east of another...
.
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