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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 |
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Southern Leopard Frogs have been found in this wetland in 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 |
Mostly nocturnal. Can be active all year long in the southern part of their native range, but they are dormant in the winter in their northern range, where they shelter in permanent bodies of water that do not freeze completely and that contain plenty of oxygen. Frogs move away from water in summer, after breeding, using vegetation for shelter and shade, but in dry periods they stay in moist areas near springs, lakes, rivers and creeks.
To avoid predation, frogs dive into water, turning sharply underwater, before coming up in vegetation. Often when approached as they rest at the edge of a water source, they will escape inland. On land they leap quickly, with each leap in a different direction. |
| Diet |
| Eats a wide variety of invertebrates, including crayfish. |
| Reproduction and Young |
Reproduction is aquatic. Fertilization is external. In the native range of this frog, mating and egg-laying occurs from early Spring in the north and in any month in the south. Males make an advertisement call while floating on open water, from vegetation, or while sitting on logs or sticks.
Eggs are laid in still shallow water, usually attached to vegetation. Communal nesting has been documented. Females lay 1,200 to 1,500 eggs, possibly as many as 5,000. Eggs have been observed hatching in 4 - 5 days in Florida and in less than 2 weeks in Missouri.
Tadpoles metamorphose in 50 - 75 days. This can be April to October across their native range. |
| 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 along the east coast of North America from Long Island to Florida, west through Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and barely into Iowa, and the eastern parts of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits many types of shallow, freshwater habitats, including temporary pools, and permanent waters such as ponds, lakes, irrigation canals, ditches and the edges of streams and rivers. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
This frog has been renamed Lithobates sphenocephalus, but this nomenclature is not yet standard.
Two subspecies are recognized:
Rana sphenocephala sphenocephala (Lithobates sphenocephalus sphenocephalus) - Florida Leopard Frog
and Rana sphenocephala utricularia (Lithobates sphenocephalus utricularius ) - Southern Leopard Frog
Frogs introduced into California are thought to be R. s. utricularia, but this is not certain.
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| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None known, in their native range where they are ubiquitous and abundant in many areas. In California, as with any introduced species, they could 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.
Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Amphibians of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009.
Elliott, Lang, Carl Gerhardt, and Carlos Davidson. Frogs and Toads of North America, a Comprehensive Guide to their Identification, Behavior, and Calls. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.
Lannoo, Michael (Editor). Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, June 2005.
Wright, Anna. Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, 1949.
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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