Species: Lithobates pipiens

Northern Leopard Frog

Species

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

A slim, long-legged, green or brownish frog usually with well-defined, pale-bordered, oval or round dark dorsal spots; white stripe on upper jaw; white or cream below; well-defined, pale dorsolateral ridges that are not inset at the posterior end; dark dorsal spots may be reduced or absent in young; during the breeding season, adult males have swollen, darked thumb bases and usually have vestigial oviducts; adults generally are 5-9 cm in snout-vent length, sometimes up to 11 cm (Stebbins 1985). In Minnesota and adjacent states, the dorsum sometimes has few or no dark dorsal spots or much dark pigment between the dark spots (Conant and Collins 1991).

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Anura

Family

Ranidae

Genus

Lithobates

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101454

Classification

Other Global Common Names

grenouille léopard

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Amphibians - Frogs and Toads

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Amphibia - Anura - Ranidae - Lithobates - .

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A medium-sized spotted frog.

Migration

false - false - false

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Metamorphosed frogs eat various small invertebrates obtained along water's edge or in nearby meadows or fields; rarely eats small vertebrates. Larvae eat algae, plant tissue, organic debris, and probably some small invertebrates.

Reproduction Comments

The time of egg deposition varies with latitude and elevation. Egg deposition occurs typically in April in southern Quebec, New York, and the Great Lakes region, late April to late May farther north in Manitoba and Nova Scotia (see Gilbert et al. 1994). In Colorado, eggs are laid mainly in early spring at low elevations, in late spring in the mountains (Hammerson 1999). Breeding often peaks when water temperatures reach about 10 C. At a particular site, egg deposition generally occurs within a span of about 10 days. Egg masses include several hundred to several thousand ova. Aquatic larvae metamorphose into small frogs in early to late summer, a few months after egg deposition. Females are sexually mature usually in two years in most areas, three years in high elevation populations. Density of egg masses often reaches a few hundred per ha in favorable habitat, sometimes >1000/ha.

Ecology Comments

In Michigan, the average nightly movement during rain was 36 m, occasionally moved more than 100 m. See Mazerolle (2001) for information on movement patterns of frogs in fragmented peat bogs in New Brunswick.

Length

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2002-04-15

Global Status Last Changed

2001-11-26

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Range extends from the Great Slave Lake, Hudson Bay, and Labrador, Canada, south to southern New England, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arizona, west to southeastern British Columbia, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and eastern California (Conant and Collins 1991, Stebbins 2003). Distribution is spotty in the west, where this frog has been introduced in many localities.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101454