Pig Frog - Rana grylio

• Diagnostic Features:
  • Size: 3 to 6.25 inches (80 to 162 mm)
  • Color:
    • Varies from olive to dark brown
  • Other:
    • Large frog
    • Narrow and pointed head
    • Prominent tympanum
    • Prominent dark dorsal spots
    • Ventral surfaces white or pale yellow with gray mottling on thighs
    • No dorsolateral folds
    • Hind feet are fully webbed. Compare to Bullfrog, and Carpenter Frog, young Pig Frogs in particular resemble these other species.
• Natural History:
  • Habitat:
    • This frog is seen in large bodies of water, such as lakes and marshes amid floating vegetation.
  • Behavior:
    • It is nocturnal. This frog is difficult to approach. It is territorial and feeds primarily on crawfish, but eats minnows, snakes, and smaller frogs
  • Breeding:
    • Breeding takes place from April to August.
    • Each female deposits about 10,000 eggs in a thin layer on the surface of the water
• Voice: Sonogram : Call ( Ben Hill, Seminole, & Terrell Counties )
  • Short, low-pitched piglike grunts
  • Single, internal vocal sac that looks like it has three parts when inflated
• Tadpoles:
  • Tadpole stage: about 1 year
  • Transformed size: 32 - 49 mm
  • LTRF usually 2/3; to 25 TL; prominent (formed of many, closely-arranged, bright-colored cells) to faint (formed of fewer, widely-spaced cells) transverse golden, brassy, or russet band at mid-body (may or may not be visible in preserved specimen but sparse distributions of melanophores in this area often allow detection of where band was); fins usually not pigmented but may be slightly opaque; throughout continent but several species limited to Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains
  • LTRF usually 2/3; ca. 25-110 TL; body brown to russet with small, subtle, darker markings; middle of dorsal fin with longitudinal dark line or row of dots; Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from southeastern Texas to New Jersey
  • 
  • P-2/P-3 ca. 1.7; ground color brown with subtle mottling, longitudinal series of dark dots in dorsal fin; summer breeder, usually in permanent lentic sites in Coastal Plain from southwestern Louisiana and adjacent Texas to central South Carolina

    

  • high contrast (easily visible without magnification) brassy band at mid-body on black ground color; with tadpole growth, band fades as ground color turns to russet; fins slightly opaque; tail muscle unicolored; summer breeder, usually in permanent lentic sites in Coastal Plain from southwestern Louisiana and adjacent Texas to central South Carolina
• Range:
  • In North America, this frog is found in the Deep South of the United States from South Carolina to East Texas.
  • In Georgia, it is found primarily in the southern part of the state.

    

  • In Light Blue: Williamson, Gerald K. & Moulis, Robert A., Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, Special Publication No. 3, Savannah Science Museum, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, 1994. Museum specimens
  • In Pale Blue: Williamson, Gerald K. & Moulis, Robert A., Distribution of Amphibians and Reptiles in Georgia, Special Publication No. 3, Savannah Science Museum, Inc. Savannah, Georgia, 1994. Literature only, no museum specimens.
  • In Green: Sound Recordings
  • In Yellow: From Both '94 study and Sound Recordings
  • In Magenta: Photograph, not found by '94, may or may not be sound record
  • In Medium Blue: Photograph and in '94 study, may or may not be sound record 
  • In Orange: County Record by other Herp Atlas Volunteers
  • In Red: US Distribution from various sources

September 9, 2006 - wwknapp@mindspring.com