''Lithobates sphenocephalus''
[ or ''Rana sphenocephala'',]Kansas
Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
to New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
to Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
. It is also an introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
in some areas.[ This species lives in cool, clear water in the north, whereas in the south it occurs in warmer turbid and murky waters of coastal and floodplain swamps, twilight zones of caves, and abandoned mines.
]
Description
This frog is up to long. It is green or brown in color with a yellowish ridge along each side of the back. Rounded dark spots occur on the back and sides; a light spot is seen on each eardrum. The male has larger fore limbs than the female. The breeding male's vocal sacs are spherical when inflated. The call is described as a "ratchet-like trill",[NatureServe. 2015]
''Lithobates sphenocephalus''.
NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 15 June 2016. "chuckling croak",[Norman, C]
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. University of Georgia. or a "squeaky balloon-like sound".[Southern Leopard Frog (''Lithobates sphenocephalus'').]
Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. University of Florida.
The larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
...
is mottled, and the eyes are positioned on the top of the head. It grows to in length before maturing. The female lays an egg mass that is "baseball-sized" when close to hatching time, and contains up to 1500 eggs.[
]
Ecology and behavior
This frog lives in many types of shallow freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...
habitat and sometimes in slightly brackish water. It is usually found close to water, but it can stay on dry land for long periods of time.[ During warmer months, it moves away from the water for most of the time,][ It is mostly nocturnal,][''Lithobates sphenocephalus'' – Southern Leopard Frog.]
California Herps. but it can be active during the day and the night, especially during rainfall. It breeds in the winter and spring, and sometimes in the fall; heavy periods of rainfall trigger breeding.[ The egg mass is connected to aquatic vegetation.][ It typically nests communally in cooler weather, and individually in warmer weather. Communal egg deposition in cooler temperatures is thought to be an adaptation for increased egg and embryo survival, creating a thermal advantage, similar to that of the Wood frog. Eggs hatch in 4 days to nearly two weeks.][ It has been shown that ''L. sphenocephalus'' eggs hatch more quickly in response to the presence of predators such as crayfish. The tadpoles take 50 to 75 days to develop to adulthood.][
In northern parts of its range, it is dormant during the winter, where it remains in well-oxygenated, unfrozen water bodies.][
Southern leopard frogs feed primarily on ]insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...
s, crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...
, and other invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...
s. They forage in upland areas during the summer.
Range
This frog is widespread across eastern North America, especially the Southeast US. It is the most common frog in Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
and several other regions. It is an introduced species in the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
[ and at two locations in California. Southern leopard frogs are believed to have been introduced to the Prado Flood Control Basin via a shipment of aquatic fauna to the Chino Gun Club in 1929 or 1930; they are now common in areas of the basin undergoing urbanization.][ A second established population of the species in California is now suspected, following the March 2016 discovery of two females in the ]San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...
just northwest of Fresno on the border between Madera and Fresno Counties.[
]
Subspecies
The subspecies are:[
*''L. s. sphenocephalus'' – Florida leopard frog
*''L. s. utricularius'' – Southern leopard frog]
Gallery
File:Southern Leopard Frog - Lithobates sphenocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge, Virginia (39430233694).jpg, Southern Leopard Frog (''Lithobates sphenocephalus''), Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge, Virginia
Lithobates sphenocephalus metamorph.JPG, A metamorph
Rana sphenocephala egg mass.JPG, Egg mass
References
Further reading
* AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3020577
Lithobates
Amphibians described in 1886
Fauna of the Southeastern United States