Species: Ascaphus montanus
Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Amphibia
Order
Anura
Family
Ascaphidae
Genus
Ascaphus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Inland Tailed Frog - grenouille-à-queue des Rocheuses
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Amphibians - Frogs and Toads
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Amphibia - Anura - Ascaphidae - Ascaphus - Tailed frogs sometimes are placed in the family Leiopelmatidae. Stebbins (1985) placed them in the family Ascaphidae.
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A small frog with a tail-like appendage in males.
Migration
false - false - false - In Montana, frogs made seasonal migrations that appeared to be related to avoidance of warm water temperatures (Adams and Frissell 2001); distances moved are uncertain.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Larva feed mostly on diatoms. Adults eat a wide variety of insects and other invertebrates.
Reproduction Comments
Fertilization is internal; male has a tail-like copulatory organ. Mating occurs typically in fall; females retain sperm and lay eggs in early summer. Eggs hatch ususally in late summer, but larvae may remain in nest site until the following summer. Larval period lasts a few years. Requires several additional years to attain sexual maturity.
Length
5
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
2004-08-24
Global Status Last Changed
2001-05-15
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S2&US.ID=S3&US.MT=S4&US.OR=S2&US.WA=S2" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
FG - 20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles) - FG - Extreme southeastern British Columbia south through western Montana to extreme southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and south-central Idaho (Leonard et al. 1993, Nielson et al. 2001, Stebbins 2003). Elevational range in Oregon mainly 1,100-2,100 m (occurrence data); ranges to at least 2,134 m in the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon (Leonard et al. 1993). Occurs at elevations as low as 550 m or less in British Columbia.
Global Range Code
FG
Global Range Description
20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)