Northern leopard frog | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Anura |
Family: | Ranidae |
Genus: | Lithobates |
Species: | L. pipiens |
Binomial name | |
Lithobates pipiens (Schreber, 1782) | |
Range of L. pipiens |
Lithobates pipiens [1] [2] [3] [4] formerly Rana pipiens, [5] [6] commonly known as the northern leopard frog, is a species of leopard frog from the true frog family, native to parts of Canada and the United States. It is the state amphibian of Minnesota and Vermont.
The northern leopard frog is a fairly large species of frog, reaching about 11 cm (4.3 in) in snout-to-vent length. It varies from green to brown in dorsal color, with large, dark, circular spots on its back, sides, and legs. [7] Each spot is normally bordered by a lighter ring. A pair of dorsolateral folds starting from the back of the eye runs parallel to each other down the back. These dorsolateral folds are often lighter or occasionally pinkish in colour. Also, a pale stripe runs from the nostril, under the eye and tympanum, terminating at the shoulder. The ventral surface is white or pale green. The iris is golden and toes are webbed.
Tadpoles are dark brown or grey, with light blotches on the underside. The tail is pale tan.
The northern leopard frog has several different color variations, with the most common two being the green and the brown morphs, with another morph known as the burnsi morph. Individuals with the burnsi morph coloration lack spots on their backs, but may or may not retain them on their legs. They can be bright green or brown and have yellow dorsal folds. [8] Albinism also appears in this species, but is very rare. They can also be blue, and this is quite rare also. [9]
Northern leopard frogs have a wide range of habitats. They are found in permanent ponds, swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams throughout forest, open, and urban areas. [10] They normally inhabit water bodies with abundant aquatic vegetation. In the summer, they often abandon ponds and move to grassy areas and lawns. They are well adapted to cold and can be found above 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above mean sea level. Males make a short, snore-like call from water during spring and summer. The northern leopard frog breeds in the spring (March–June). Up to 6500 eggs are laid in water, and tadpoles complete development within the breeding pond. Tadpoles are light brown with black spots, and development takes 70–110 days, depending on conditions. Metamorph frogs are 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) long and resemble the adult.
This species was once quite common through parts of western Canada and the United States until declines started occurring during the 1970s. Although the definitive cause of this decline is unknown, habitat loss and fragmentation, environmental contaminants, introduced fish, drought, and disease have been proposed as mechanisms of decline and are likely preventing species' recovery in many areas. [7] Many populations of northern leopard frogs have not yet recovered from these declines.
Northern leopard frogs are preyed upon by many different animals, such as snakes, raccoons, other frogs, and even humans. They do not produce distasteful skin secretions and rely on speed to evade predation.
They eat a wide variety of animals, including crickets, flies, worms, and smaller frogs. Using their large mouths, they can even swallow birds and garter snakes. In one case, a bat was recorded as prey of this frog. [11] This species is similar to the pickerel frog (Lithobates palustris) and the southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus).
The northern leopard frog produces specific ribonucleases to its oocytes. Those enzymes are potential drugs for cancer. One such molecule, called ranpirnase (onconase), is in clinical trials as a treatment for pleural mesothelioma and lung tumors. Another, amphinase, has been described as a potential treatment for brain tumors. [12]
The northern leopard frog has been a preferred species for making discoveries about basic properties of neurons since the 1950s. The neuromuscular junction of the sciatic nerve fibers of the sartorius muscle of this frog has been the source of initial data about the nervous system. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
The northern leopard frog is a popular species for in vitro experiments in muscle physiology and biomechanics due to the ease of accessibility for investigators in its native range and the ability of the sartorius muscle to stay alive in vitro for several hours. Furthermore, the reliance of the frog on two major modes of locomotion (jumping and swimming) allows for understanding how muscle properties contribute to organismal performance in each of these modes.
Northern leopard frogs occur from Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay, Canada, south to Kentucky and New Mexico, USA. [20] [21] It is also found in Panama, where it is endemic to the central cordillera and western Pacific lowlands, although this is most likely an undescribed species. [1] They occupy grasslands, lakeshores, and marshes.
True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North America, northern South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Asian range extends across the East Indies to New Guinea and a single species, the Australian wood frog, has spread into the far north of Australia.
Leopard frog is a generic name used to refer to various species in the true frog genus Lithobates. They all have similar coloration: brown or green with spots that form a leopard pattern. They are distinguished by their distribution and behavioral, morphological, and genetic differences. The range of the various species of leopard frogs extends from the Hudson Bay in Canada, throughout the United States, throughout Mexico and other parts of Central America, and possibly the very northern section of South America.
Rana is a genus of frogs commonly known as the Holarctic true frogs, pond frogs or brown frogs. Members of this genus are found through much of Eurasia and western North America. Many other genera were formerly included here. These true frogs are usually largish species characterized by their slim waists and wrinkled skin; many have thin ridges running along their backs, but they generally lack "warts" as in typical toads. They are excellent jumpers due to their long, slender legs. The typical webbing found on their hind feet allows for easy movement through water. Coloration is mostly greens and browns above, with darker and yellowish spots.
The pickerel frog is a small North American frog, characterized by the appearance of seemingly "hand-drawn" squares on its dorsal surface.
Lithobates sphenocephalus or Rana sphenocephala, commonly known as the southern leopard frog, is a medium-sized anuran in the family Ranidae. The southern leopard frog is one of the 36 species of the Ranidae family found in North America. It is native to eastern North America from Kansas to New York to Florida. It is also an introduced species in some areas. This species lives in cool, clear water in the north, whereas in the south it occurs in warmer turbid and murky waters of coastal and floodplain swamps, twilight zones of caves, and abandoned mines.
The pig frog is a species of aquatic frog found in the Southeastern United States, from South Carolina to Texas. Some sources also refer to it as the lagoon frog or the southern bullfrog.
The Plains leopard frog is a spotted frog found in North America. It is sometimes referred to as Blair's leopard frog, named after the noted zoologist and University of Texas professor, Dr. W. Frank Blair.
The Rio Grande leopard frog is a species of aquatic frog native to the southern United States in Texas and New Mexico, and south through Mexico and Central America. It is also sometimes referred to as the Mexican leopard frog. The epithet berlandieri is in honor of the naturalist Jean Louis Berlandier, who worked for the Mexican government on one of the first biological surveys of Texas.
The Vegas Valley leopard frog, also known as the Las Vegas leopard frog, is an extinct species of frog. It once occurred in the Las Vegas Valley, as well as Tule Springs, Clark County, southern Nevada in the United States, at elevations between 370 and 760 m. It was believed to be the only frog endemic to the United States to have become extinct in modern times.
Lithobates, commonly known as the bullfrogs, is a genus of true frogs, of the family Ranidae. The name is derived from litho- (stone) and the Greek bates, meaning one that treads on rock, or rock climber. As presently defined, it includes many of eastern North America's most familiar aquatic frog species, including the American bullfrog, green frog, and the leopard frogs.
The gopher frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae, endemic to the south-eastern United States. It primarily inhabits the threatened sandhill communities, flatwoods, and scrub in the Atlantic coastal plain, where it is usually found near ponds.
The Chiricahua leopard frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae, the true frogs.
Forrer's grass frog or Forrer's leopard frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae found in Mexico and Central America through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua to Costa Rica. It is a widespread and common frog found in lowland and seasonal tropical forests. It can also adapt to man-made habitats such as flooded agricultural lands and other water content systems. Reproduction requires permanent pools and lagoons.
The river frog is a species of aquatic frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to the southeastern United States. Its natural habitats are temperate rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Moore's frog is a species of frog in the true frog family (Ranidae). It is endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico.
The Guatemala plateau frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It occurs in Guatemala and southern Mexico. It is impossible to morphologically distinguish this species from Lithobates forreri and Lithobates brownorum, and the validity of it has been questioned. It is an uncommon frog that inhabits cloud forests, including degraded forest, and grassland. Breeding takes place in streams and small temporary ponds. It is threatened by habitat degradation caused by agricultural encroachment, wood extraction, human settlement, and water pollution.
The showy leopard frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae endemic to Mexico.
Vaillant's frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae found in Central America. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forests, water storage areas, ponds, and canals and ditches.
The lowland leopard frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae that is found in Mexico and the United States.
Lithobates clamitans or Rana clamitans, commonly known as the green frog, is a species of frog native to eastern North America. The two subspecies are the bronze frog and the northern green frog.