Frogs and Toads of Mississippi

If you are looking to identify a specific frog and can’t figure it out from the page, you can check my Frog Identification and see how to contact me about helping you out.

Frogs

Mississippi is home to a variety of different types of frogs, from true frogs to tree frogs and everything in between.

True Frog family – Ranidae

The True Frogs are your typical frogs that are generally found along the shores of a lake or pond.

Green Frog / Bronze Frog (Rana clamitans)

Common Name: Green / Bronze Frog
Scientific Name: Rana clamitan
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Green Frog is a medium to large sized frog. They can be commonly found near pretty much any water body such as ponds, lakes, or streams. Once the males of the species reach sexual maturity, their throats turn bright yellow. Best way to tell them apart from other true frogs below is the dorsal ridge on its back does not go all the way down its back.

Pig Frog (Rana grylio)

Common Name: Pig Frog
Scientific Name: Rana grylio
Location: Coastal areas
Breeding Season:

American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)

Common Name: American Bullfrog
Scientific Name: Rana catesbeiana
Location: Throughout state
Breeding Season:

The American Bullfrog is the largest frog in the state. They are found near permanent bodies of water such as large ponds, streams, and lakes. Once the males of the species reach sexual maturity, their throats turn bright yellow. It looks very similar to the Green Frog but the dorsal ridge wraps around the tympanum while the Green Frog’s dorsal ridge is incomplete and does not extend all the way to its rear. The American Bullfrog is also very similar to the Pig Frog but the Pig Frog has bolder spots / stripes on the back of its thighs while the Bullfrog has light spots.

Common Name: Southern Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana sphenocephalus
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Pickeral Frog
Scientific Name: Rana palustris
Location: Everywhere besides the northeastern corner of the state
Breeding Season:

The Pickerel Frog is a medium to large sized frog. Their dorsal ridge runs down from their eye to their back and inside there is rectangular boxes. 

Common Name: Dusky Gopher Frog
Scientific Name: Rana sevosus
Location: Glen’s Pond in Harrison County
Breeding Season:

Mississippi Gopher Frog or Dusky Gopher Frog is a critically endangered frog.

Common Name: Crawfish Frog
Scientific Name: Rana areolatus
Location: Northern half of the state
Breeding Season:

The Crawfish Frog gets its name from living in crawfish holes. Its has skin fold on the side and a small typanum.

Common Name: River Frog
Scientific Name: Rana heckscheri
Location: Southern edge of the state
Breeding Season:

The River Frog does not have a dorsal ridge which is a key identification characteristic. Its skin is also a lot more rough and wrinkly than another true frogs.

Tree Frog Family – Hylidae

Common Name: Blanchard’s Cricket Frog
Scientific Name: Acris blanchardi
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Southern Cricket Frog
Scientific Name: Acris gryllus
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Cricket Frogs look really similar but there’s a few ways to tell them apart. The Southern Cricket Frog has a more pointed snout and less webbing on their back legs while the Northern Cricket Frog has a more blunt snout and more webbing on back legs.

Common Name: Pinewood’s Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla femoralis
Location: South border and eastern edge
Breeding Season:

Cope’s Gray Tree Frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) and Eastern Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)

Common Name: Cope’s Gray Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla chrysoscelis
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Eastern Gray Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla versicolor
Location: Northern border area
Breeding Season:

The Gray Tree Frogs are nearly identical besides their calls and chromosome numbers. These medium sized frogs can be found perched in trees or on the side of your house. They are not always gray in color and can be green. They have yellow or orange coloration on their back legs.

Here is a video of some Eastern Gray Tree Frog males calling that I took

Common Name: Bird-voiced Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla avivoca
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Cope’s Gray Tree Frog, the Eastern Gray Tree Frog,  Pinewoods Frog, and the Bird-Voiced Frog look very much a like. The difference is the coloration on the inner thigh. Cope’s Gray Tree Frog and Gray Tree Frog has brighter orange color on the thigh while the Bird-Voiced Frog is more greenish-yellow. The Pinewoods Frog has dots / spots on the inner thigh.

Common Name: Green Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla cinerea
Location: Everywhere besides the northern border
Breeding Season:

The Green Tree Frog is a medium sized tree frog with a distinct white stripe down its side. They are found on trees and other objects above the ground.

Common Name: Barking Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla gratiosas
Location: Southern part of the state
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Squirrel Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla squirella
Location: Southern part of the state
Breeding Season:

The Green Tree Frog, Squirrel Tree Frog , and Barking Tree Frog are all very similar. The Barking Tree Frog has much rougher skin than the others. The Green Tree Frog has a white line down its side.

Pseudacris – Chorus Frogs

Common Name: Mountain Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris blachyphona
Location: Northeastern corner of the state
Breeding Season:

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

Common Name: Spring Peeper
Scientific Name: Pseudacris crucifer
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Spring Peeper is a small chorus frog that can often be found on forest floor or low on trunks of trees. They can be hard to find due to their small size, however, in spring when they come to temporary ponds to breed, they are easier to find. The Spring Peeper and Mountain Chorus Frog are similar but the markings on their back can be used to tell them apart. The Spring Peeper has an X on its back while the Mountain Chorus Frog has 2 backwards parenthesizes that look like )(. Sometimes they touch that can kinda look like an x but there’s also a dark triangle between its eyes that the Spring Peeper doesn’t have.

Common Name: Southern Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris nigrita
Location: Southern edge of the state
Breeding Season:

Common Name: Cajun Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris fouquettei
Location: Western half
Breeding Season:

Cajun Chorus Frog and Southern Chorus Frog look very similar but their color patterns are different. Cajun Chorus Frog have three brown stripes while Southern Chorus have black darken stripes

Common Name: Ornate Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris ornata
Location: Southern half
Breeding Season:

The Ornate Chorus Frog has dark bands running down their sides which is one of the easier characteristics to identify it from. 

Toads

True Toad Family – Bufonidae

Toads from the family Bufonidae can create a poisonous chemical called Bufotoxin. People and pets should avoid eating these toads.

Common Name: Oak Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus quercicus
Location: Southern edge of the state
Breeding Season:

The Oak Toad is the most easily identifiable toad out of the group of four. It is the smallest of the group and has a light line down its back. The Oak Toad also has orange on the bottom of its feet.

Common Name: Fowler’s Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus fowleri
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Fowler’s Toad is a small to medium sized toad with a clear, white underside. Its parotid gland touches it postorbital ridge.

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

Common Name: American Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus americanus
Location: Northern half of the state
Breeding Season:

The American Toad is a medium sized toad with rough warty skin that’s primary brown in color but can have some black, gray, or red coloration. The toads can be found pretty much anywhere including urban areas. The American Toads’s parotid gland does not touch or connected to it by a spur.

Common Name: Southern Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus terrestris
Location: Eastern half of the state
Breeding Season:

The remaining toads are a lot harder to distinguish between. To identify the differences, you have to look at the top of the head. The Southern Toad has knobs on the back of its head. The Fowler’s Toad’s parotid gland touches its post orbital ridge around its eye. Here’s an easy map I found that helps me.

Common Name: Coastal Plains Toad
Scientific Name: Incilius nebulifer
Location: Southern border
Breeding Season:

The Gulf Coast Toad is notable from the other toads because its in a different genus Incilius. This genus has a more defined cranial crest than toads of the genus Anaxyrus.

American Spadefoot Toad Family – Scaphiopodidae

Common Name: Eastern Spadefoot Toad
Scientific Name: Scaphiopus holbrookii
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Eastern Spadefoot Toad is the only Spadefoot toad in state so it can easily be identified because of the spade on its back legs.

Narrow Mouthed Toad Family – Microhylidae

Common Name: Eastern Narrow Mouthed Toad
Scientific Name: Gastrophryne carolinensis
Location: Statewide
Breeding Season:

The Eastern Narrow Mouthed Toad is the only narrow mouthed toad in Mississippi. One could potentially misidentify it has a Spadefoot toad because of its burrowing lifestyle but the head is narrower and there’s no spade on the back feet.

Invasive

Greenhouse Frog (Eleutherodactylus planirostris)

The Greenhouse Frog is native to Cuba, Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands. They are accidentally shipped around the world with plants so they are often found in greenhouses which is where they get their name.

Common Name: Greenhouse Frog
Scientific Name: Eleutherodactylus planirostris
Location: Southern edge of the state
Breeding Season: