Lithobates is a genus of frogs belonging to the family Ranidae, native to the Americas. The name is derived from (stone) and : (one that treads), meaning one that treads on rock, or rock climber. As presently defined, it includes many of eastern North America´s most familiar aquatic frog species, including the American bullfrog, green frog, and the leopard frogs.

Systematics: The name was defined by Hillis and Wilcox (2005) for a subgenus of four Central and South American frogs within the genus Rana. The subgenus was subsequently expanded to seven species in Central and South America in a systematic revision of the genus Rana. The name was previously used by Frost et al. as a separate genus of ranid frogs that included most of the North American frogs traditionally included in the genus Rana, including the American bullfrog and northern leopard frog. Frost used the name in this sense in the frog section of a North American common names list edited by Crother (2008). This proposed change has since been rejected by others, such as Stuart (2008), Pauly et al. (2009), AmphibiaWeb, and Yuan et al. (2016). AmphibiaWeb, available at an online compendium of amphibian names, follows Yuan et al. (2016) in recognizing Lithobates as a subgenus. On the other hand, Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an online reference, uses Lithobates as a genus. This definition is also followed by, e.g., the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

The earliest known members of this genus are known from the Early Miocene of Florida, and appear to belong to the leopard frog species complex.

Recent species: These species are recognised in the genus Lithobates:

Alternatively, if Lithobates is treated as a subgenus (neotropical true frogs), then this narrower definition would contain the following species:

Fossil species: The following fossil species are known, all assignable to the L. pipiens (leopard frog) complex:

• †Lithobates bucella (Holman, 1965) (Early Miocene of Florida)
• †Lithobates dubitus (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates fayeae (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates moorei (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates miocenicus (Holman, 1965) (Early Miocene of Florida)
• †Lithobates robustocondylus (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates rexroadensis (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)
• †Lithobates parvissimus (Taylor, 1942) (Pliocene/early Pleistocene of Kansas)

The species described in 1942 were previously placed in their own genus, Anchylorana.

Phylogeny: Cladogram after Martínez‐Gil et al. 2025: