Pelophylax ridibundus
Silhouette: T137 · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) is a species of water frog native to Europe and parts of western Asia. The first scientific description of the marsh frog was published in 1771 and written by Prussian zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who gave it the scientific name Rana ridibunda after collecting specimens of it during an expedition through the Russian Empire. Pallas did not precisely specify the type locality (where he found the frogs), only noting it as "versus mare Caspium; Volgae et Iaico" (opposite to the Caspian Sea, Volga, and on the Yaik River). A more precise location of "Gurjew" on the north coast of the Caspian Sea (now the city of Atyrau in Kazakhstan) was given in a 1928 publication written by German herpetologists Robert Mertens and Lorenz Müller. However, a 1994 paper by herpetologists Alain Dubois and Annemarie Ohler noted that because Pallas never designated a holotype specimen, a neotype needs to be selected for the species. The restriction of the type locality done by Mertens and Müller is therefore invalid unless a specimen from Atyrau is designated as the neotype, which Dubois and Ohler suggest should be done... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plitvice Lakes National Park | 🇭🇷 Croatia | |
| 2 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Aquarium du palais de la Porte Dorée | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Zoo d'Amiens | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Knuthenborg Safaripark | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 5 | Zoo de La Flèche | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Ljubljana Zoo | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 7 | Schönbrunn Zoo | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 8 | Alpenzoo Innsbruck | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 9 | Animal - Bird Collection | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 10 | The Fenn Bell Conservation Project | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 11 | Lake Tisza Ecocentre | 🇭🇺 Hungary |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Marsh Frog sighting in Plitvice Lakes National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 5 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Marsh Frog in Plitvice Lakes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month. That is one of Plitvice Lakes National Park's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain against 90 mm in August. November and December have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Marsh Frog sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Marsh Frog sightings, Plitvice Lakes National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 30%) and Cévennes National Park (France, about 10%).
Same family: Ranidae
The closest relatives of the Marsh Frog that you can see in Plitvice Lakes National Park (family Ranidae, Typical Frogs) are Agile Frog (about 30%) and European Common Frog (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Marsh Frog is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Plitvice Lakes National Park (22 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
