Species: Lithobates clamitans

Green Frog
Species

    Green frogs are green, greenish brown, brown, or bronze (nearly black when cold), often with numerous dark spots or blotches. A straight ridge that extends along each side of the back begins behind the eye and ends on the back and does not extend to the groin. The hind legs are crossbanded when the legs are folded. In adlut males, the eardrum is much larger than the eye and the throat may be yellow. In adult females and juveniles the eardrum is about the same size as the eye. The webbing on the hind toes does not reach the tip of the 5th toe and barely extends past the second joint of the 5th toe. Maximum size is around 4.3 inches (10.8 cm) snout-vent length. The breeding call is a single croak or series of croaks; each croak sounds like a loose banjo string being plucked. The elongate larvae are olive-green with irregular dark marks (not sharply defined black spots) on the body; the tail is usually heavily dark mottled. The papillae around the mouth are large, somewhat flattened, and heavily pigmented. Larvae may grow as large as 4 inches (10 cm) long. Eggs are laid in masses of up to several thousand eggs, initially floating at the water surface and/or partially tangled in vegetation, later sinking.

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Amphibia

    Order

    Anura

    Family

    Ranidae

    Genus

    Lithobates

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    grenouille verte
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Amphibians - Frogs and Toads
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Amphibia - Anura - Ranidae - Lithobates

    Green frogs are green, greenish brown, brown, or bronze (nearly black when cold), often with numerous dark spots or blotches. A straight ridge that extends along each side of the back begins behind the eye and ends on the back and does not extend to the groin. The hind legs are crossbanded when the legs are folded. In adlut males, the eardrum is much larger than the eye and the throat may be yellow. In adult females and juveniles the eardrum is about the same size as the eye. The webbing on the hind toes does not reach the tip of the 5th toe and barely extends past the second joint of the 5th toe. Maximum size is around 4.3 inches (10.8 cm) snout-vent length. The breeding call is a single croak or series of croaks; each croak sounds like a loose banjo string being plucked. The elongate larvae are olive-green with irregular dark marks (not sharply defined black spots) on the body; the tail is usually heavily dark mottled. The papillae around the mouth are large, somewhat flattened, and heavily pigmented. Larvae may grow as large as 4 inches (10 cm) long. Eggs are laid in masses of up to several thousand eggs, initially floating at the water surface and/or partially tangled in vegetation, later sinking.

    Migration
    true - true - false - >
    Non-migrant
    true
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Metamorphosed frogs eat various small, mainly terrestrial, invertebrates; occasionally small amphibians. Larvae eat suspended matter, organic debris, algae, plant tissue, and minute organisms in water.
    Reproduction Comments
    Breeding occurs in spring or summer. In the north, males call mainly in late spring and early summer (mostly May to August). In the south, breeding may occur as early as March. Adult females deposit 1-2 clutches of up to several thousand eggs. Larvae emerge from jelly in 3-7 days. In the south, larvae from early clutches may metamorphose in a few months, larvae from late clutches overwinter before metamorphosing, as do most larvae in the northern part of the range.
    Ecology Comments
    See Hecnar and M'Closkey (1997) for information on the dynamics of populations in 160 ponds in Ontario.<br><br>When approached along the edge of a pond, green frogs often leap into the water while emitting a loud squeenk call. Usually they soon return to shore and then often allow close approach if one moves slowly.
    Length
    10
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2007-08-17
    Global Status Last Changed
    2001-11-21
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=SE&CA.MB=S1&CA.NB=S5&CA.NF=SE&CA.NS=S5&CA.ON=S5&CA.PE=S4&CA.QC=S5&US.AL=S5&US.AR=S4&US.CT=S5&US.DE=S5&US.DC=S5&US.FL=SNR&US.GA=S5&US.IL=S4&US.IN=SNR&US.IA=S4&US.KS=S1&US.KY=S5&US.LA=S5&US.ME=S5&US.MD=S5&US.MA=S5&US.MI=S5&US.MN=SNR&US.MS=S5&US.MO=SNR&US.NH=S5&US.NJ=SNR&US.NY=S5&US.NC=S5&US.OH=S5&US.OK=S4&US.PA=S5&US.RI=S5&US.SC=SNR&US.TN=S5&US.TX=S5&US.UT=SE&US.VT=S5&US.VA=S5&US.WA=SE&US.WV=S5&US.WI=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Range extends throughout the eastern United States and adjacent southeastern Canada (Conant and Collins 1991). This species has been introduced in Newfoundland, British Columbia (Matsuda et al. 2006), Washington (Jones et al. 2005), Utah, and probably elsewhere.
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102178