Wood Frog - Rana sylvatica

• Diagnostic Features:
  • Size: 1.5 to 3.25 inches (35 to 83 mm)
  • Color:
    •  Pink through various shades of brown to black
  • Other:
    • Dark patch extending back from eye, "mask like"
    • Paired, lateral vocal sacs
    • Belly white with a dark spot on each side of the chest
    • Dorsolateral folds are prominent
  • Sexual Dimorphism:
    • Males much smaller than females
    • Females are more brightly colored than males
    • Enlarged thumbs on male
• Natural History:
  • Habitat:
    • In or near moist wooded areas
    • Often far from water
  • Behavior:
    •  
  • Breeding:
    • Very early, often before ice is off ponds
    • Explosive breeder, laying in the course of only a few days
    • January - February
    • Shallow water
• Voice: Sonogram : Call ( White County ) Spring Peepers in background.
  • A hoarse clacking sound like the quack of a duck
  • Little carrying power
• Tadpole:
  • Tadpole stage: 40 - 50 days
  • 
  • oral disc and keratinized mouthparts present; eyes dorsal; vent dextral; oral disc emarginate, weakly so in some stream forms;
  •  
  • LTRF 3/4; body globular; high dorsal fin originates at or slightly anterior to tail-body junction; dorsum uniformly dark, fins with no or little markings; breeds early in spring, usually in lentic sites north and east of line connecting southeastern Alaska, southeastern British Columbia and northwestern South Carolina and small adjunct sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, and Wyoming
• Range:
  • In North America, Labridor to Alaska; south in the east to the southern Appalachians
  • In Georgia, it is found in the extreme northeastern 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

May 25, 2008 - wwknapp@mindspring.com