 Range in California: Red
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies.
|
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Angeles National Forest, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County
© 2003 William Flaxington
|
Adult, Angeles National Forest, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County
© 2003 William Flaxington
|
Adult, Mt. San Jacinto, Riverside County@ 2005 Brian Hubbs |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Adult male guarding egg site, Fresno County © Vance Vreedenburg |
 |
|
|
Habitat, Mono County |
Habitat, 5,600 ft., Mt. San Jacinto, Riverside County |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
National Forest Service signs detailing the attempt to protect a small struggling population of Southern
California Mountain yellow-legged frogs on Mt. San Jacinto, Riverside County
|
| Description |
| Size |
| Moderate in size. Adults are 1.5 - 3.5 in. long from snout to vent (4.0 - 8.9 cm). |
| Appearance |
| Variable in color - olive, yellowish or brown above, with varying amounts of black or brown markings. Pale orange to yellow below and underneath the hind legs. Indistinct dorsolateral folds. No dark face mask. Smells like garlic when handled. |
| Voice |
| The call is a short and rasping call often accellerated and rising at the end, sometimes preceeded by calls that don't rise at the end. Calls primarily underwater during the day, but may also call at night. This frog has no vocal sacs. (You can listen to the similar call of the related Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog here, or on the Carlos Davidson CD.) |
| Behavior |
| A mountain frog. Chiefly diurnal. Emerges shortly after snow melts. Usually found close to water. Rarely occurs where predatory fishes have been introduced. |
| Diet |
| Eats a variety of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates and tadpoles. Typical of most frogs, the prey is located by vision, then a large sticky tongue is used to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat. |
| Reproduction |
| Mating and egg-laying occurs after high creek waters have subsided, from March - July in the southern California populations. In the southern Sierra Nevada populations, breeding may occur later after the snows melt from May to July. Fertilization is external. A cluster of eggs is laid in shallow water and is left unattached in still waters, but may be attached to vegetation in streams. Tadpoles in the Sierras may overwinter, possibly taking as many as 3 or 4 summers before they transform. |
| Range |
Endemic to California. Historically, this frog was found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains from north of the Feather river in Butte county, to Tulare county, and in isolated locations in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto mountains, and on Mt. Palomar.
It was once found outside of California in Nevada around the Lake Tahoe area, but this population is now extinct. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits lakes, meadow streams, isolated pools, sunny riverbanks in the Sierra Nevada. In southern California, inhabits rocky streams. Open stream and lake edges with a gentle slope up to a depth of 5-8 cm. seem to be preferred. From 984 ft. - over 12,000 ft. elevation (370 - 3,660 m.) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
According to a February, 2008 petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers Council to list the Sierra Nevada Mountain Yellow-legged Frog as an Endangered Species, "The mountain yellow-legged frog in the Sierra Nevada is geographically, morphologically and genetically distinct from mountain yellow legged frogs in southern California. It is undisputedly a 'species' under the ESAOs listing criteria and warrants recognition as such."
Vredenburg, V. T., R. Bingham, R. Knapp, J. A. T. Morgan, C. Moritz & D. Wake (2007. Journal of Zoology 271: 361–374) have determined that this taxon consists of two species, which they name Rana muscosa - Sierra Madre Yellow-legged Frog, and Rana sierrae - Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog. More from the CNAH.
In 2008, the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles recognized two species, Rana muscosa - Southern Mountain Yellow-legged Frog , and Rana sierrae - Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog.
|
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Threatened in the Sierra Nevada, where it is absent from a significant part of its historic range. Endangered in Southern California, where it is absent from 99 percent of its historic range. No frogs have been seen in the San Bernardino mountains or on Mt. Palomar since the 1970's. The fires of 2003 appear to have destroyed the remaining populations and they are now considered extinct in the San Bernardino mountains. Only a few creeks have been found with frogs in the San Gabriel and San Jacinto mountains. The decline has been attributed to many factors, including bullfrogs, trout, airborne pollution, cattle grazing, ozone depletion, mining pollution, off road vehicle disturbance, public dumping, chytrid fungus, fires, and excessive flooding. |
|
|
Taxonomy |
| Family |
Ranidae |
True Frogs |
| Genus |
Rana |
True Frogs |
| Species |
muscosa |
Southern Mountain Yellow-legged Frog
|
|
Original Description |
Camp, 1917 - Univ. California Publ. Zool., Vol. 17, No. 9, p. 118
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
|
| Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Rana - Frog - "Rana" probably mimics how the Romans heard their call.
muscosa - Latin - mossy, full of moss- referring to the lichen-like dark dorsal patches
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
|
| Alternate Names |
Formerly Rana muscosa - Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (which included the species Rana sierrae.)
Rana muscosa - Sierra Madre Yellow-legged Frog
|
| Related or Similar California Frogs |
Rana aurora
Rana boylii
Rana cascadae
Rana catesbeiana
Rana draytonii
Rana pipiens
Rana pretiosa
Rana sierrae
Rana yavapaiensis
|
| More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Center for Biological Diversity
Dr. Roland Knapp's site
Rescuing a Dying Breed - Saving the Southern California Mountain Yellow-legged Frog
The Mountain Yellow-legged Frog - Can They Be Saved?
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Basey, Harold E. Discovering Sierra Reptiles and Amphibians. Yosemite Association and Sequoia Natural History Association, 1976, 1991.
Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995.
Vredenburg, V. T., R. Bingham, R. Knapp, J. A. T. Morgan, C. Moritz & D. Wake (2007. Journal of Zoology 271: 361–374)
|
|
|
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
The California Dept. of Fish and Game lists this species as Rana muscosa - Sierra Madre Yellow-legged Frog.
|
Organization
|
Status Listing
|
| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
FE |
Endangered |
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
|
| California Department of Fish and Game |
DFG:SSC |
California Species of Special Concern |
| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
|
| USDA Forest Service |
USFS:S |
Sensitive |
| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G1 |
Critically Imperiled |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
|
IUCN:VU |
Vulnerable |
|
|
Range in California: Red
