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Introduced - Not native to California
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Adult, Bastrop County, Texas |
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Adult, Bastrop County, Texas |
Adult, Bastrop County, Texas |
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Eggs, Bastrop County, Texas |
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Habitat, Riverside County
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More pictures of this frog and its natural habitat are available on our Texas Herps page.
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Description |
| Size |
| Adults are 2 - 3.5 inches long from snout to vent (5.1 - 9 cm). |
| Appearance |
| Brown or green with rounded light-bordered dark spots on the back and sides, and striping on the legs. The tympanum has a light spot in the center. There is a light upper jaw line and conspicuous dorsolateral ridges. |
| Voice (Listen) |
| A short guttural trill. |
| Behavior |
| Moves away from water in summer, using vegetation for shelter and shade. |
| Diet |
| Eats a wide variety of invertebrates. 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 |
| In its native range, mating and egg-laying occurs in water from early Spring in the north and in any month in the south. Fertilization is external. |
| Range Introduction in California |
In the early-1990s Michael Fuller discovered an introduced population of Southern leopard frogs in Western Riverside Co, near the border of Orange Co. upstream of Prado Dam. The subspecies was not determined. These Frogs, previously recorded as Rana pipiens, were most likely first introduced at the Chino Gun Club in 1929 or 1930, probably as larvae that arrived with other imported Bullfrogs, fish, and crayfish from Louisiana. They spread throughout the Santa Ana river basin in eastern Orange and western Riverside counties, including locations from the Anaheim Hills, to Corona and the southwest corner of Irvine Lake. They are now common in the Prado Flood Contro Basin, in areas that are becoming urbanized, sharing their habitat with other introduced amphibians - Bullfrogs and African Clawed Frogs. (Jennings and Fuller, 2004)
This frog's native range extends from Long Island to Florida, west through the midwest, south to Texas and Oklahoma. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits shallow, freshwater habitats. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| This frog has been renamed Lithobates sphenocephalus, but this nomenclature is not yet standard. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None known, but any introduced species can cause problems for established native animals by competing with them for resources, or by eating them or their young. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Ranidae |
True Frogs |
| Genus |
Rana |
True Frogs |
Species
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sphenocephala |
Southern Leopard Frog |
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Original Description |
Rana sphenocephala - Cope, 1886 - Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., Vol. 23, p. 517
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Rana - Frog - "Rana" probably mimics how the Romans heard their call.
sphenocephala - Greek - wedge-headed
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Lithobates sphenocephalus
Rana utricularia
Florida Leopard Frog
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Related or Similar California Frogs |
Rana draytonii
Rana aurora
Rana boylii
Rana cascadae
Rana pipiens
Rana pretiosa
Rana catesbeiana
Rana yavapaiensis
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Jennings, Mark R., and Michael M. Fuller. 2004. Origin and distribution of leopard frogs, Rana pipiens complex, in California. California Fish and Game 90(3):119-139.
Conant, Roger, & Joseph T. Collins. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians Eastern and Central North America.
Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
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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.
This frog is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the California Department of Fish and Game.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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