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Hey yo, if you are a first time gone froggin or you just making sure you have what you need, you might wanna check out this list.

 The first thing you should bring is a positive attitude because sometimes you don’t find what you are looking for and no one wants to be with a grumpy goose. Next you wanna bring a buddy along. I’m a firm believer in the buddy system. If you fall in the woods and break your leg, you are gonna be shit up a creek. I’d also bring a cell phone so you can call 911 in case of emergency.  Also if your phone has a camera that is a bonus because you want to have something to take pictures of the frogs. You can also use your camera to upload observations to herpmapper and or inaturalist.  You want to bring a bag along to fill with some of the stuff I’m gonna say. Make sure to bring a water bottle filled with water so you don’t get dehydrated. Snacks are also good to bring, such as granola bars. You may want to bring some type of net if you aren’t quick enough with your hands or you want to catch some tadpoles. Bringing a notebook and a pen or pencil to take notes is also recommended. I know people who bring pepper spray and or knives in case of stranger danger. If it’s night and you hate mosquitoes, you can bring one of those head mosquito nets. You should also bring a flashlight or a headlight if it’s nighttime. That’s all I can think of right now, if you think of anything, just comment on the article.

Genera: 2 – Cryptobranchus (1) and Andrias (2)
Species: 3

Cryptobranchidae is named the Giant Salamander family because it contains the three largest living salamanders. All three of the species are in danger of becoming extinct. These salamanders have gill slits which is unique but they still also have lungs. They also don’t have eye lids.

The genus Cryptobranchus only has one species, the Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). The Hellbender is found in the Eastern United States. It’s the largest salamander in North America.

The genus Andrias contains two species, the Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) and the Japanese Giant Salamander (Andrias japonicus). The Chinese Giant Salamander is the largest salamander in the world while the Japanese Giant Salamander is the second largest.

Photos from Antti T. Nissinen, J. Patrick Fischer, and Brian Gratwicke

Genera: Pseudobranchus (2) and Siren (2)
Species: 4 – Lesser Siren (Siren intermedia), Greater Siren (Siren lacertina), Southern Dwarf Siren (Pseudobranchus axanthus), and Northern Dwarf Siren (Pseudobranchus striatus)

Sirenidae is a small family of amphibians that is found in the Southern United States and Mexico. The family is split into two living genera – Dwarf Sirens (Pseduobranchus) and Siren. There are other genera in the fossil record.

The main characteristic of the family is lack of hind legs. They also have long, eel-like bodies with gills. They eat both plants and animals.

Dwarf Sirens (Pseudobranchus)differ from Sirens on how many toes they have on each foot. Dwarf Sirens (Pseudobranchus) have three toes on each foot than four on each foot such as Siren.

Salamanders are part of a different group of amphibians. The group they belong to is called Caudata. Not all animals in this group are called salamanders, there are also newts, sirens, olms, etc but they are sometimes just lumped into being called salamanders.

The Appalachian Mountains of the United States is the salamander capitol of the world. A third of all salamanders are found in the United States.

Caudata is broken down into 3 groups of living organisms, Cryptobranchoidea – primitive salamanders, Salamandroidea – advanced salamanders, and Sirenidae – Sirens.

There are 10 living families in Caudata and over 700 species.

Cryptobranchoidea
Cryptobranchidae – Giant Salamanders
Hynobiidae – Asiatic Salamanders

Salamandroidea
Ambystomatidae – Mole Salamanders
Amphiumidae – Amphiumas
Dicamptodontidae – Pacific Giant Salamander
Plethodontidae – Lungless Salamanders
Proteidae – Mud puppies and Olms
Rhyacotritonidae – Torrent Salamanders
Salamandridae – True Salamanders and Newts

Sirenoidea
Sirenidae – Sirens

That’s not a worm, its a caecilian! Caecilians are amphibians just like frogs and salamanders but they lack limb all four limbs. There are part of the order Gymnophiona. Most people aren’t familiar with them because they live underground for most of their lives. They are found in Central America, South America, Asia, and Africa.

There are 10 different families of caecilians with over 200 species.

The Horror Frog gets its name for a fascinating trick it can do with its arms. When threatened, it is able to break the bones in its arm to make claws that shoot out, spooOOOOoky

The Pumpkin Toadlet isn’t really that spooky but it’s color is orangish like a pumkin.

OoooOOOOOooo a ghost glass frog! so spooky

Nothing says spooky like a vampire except for the Twilight ones. The Vampire Flying Frog has weird fangs when it’s a tadpole which gave it the name. spooOOooky

 

The family Heleophrynidae are all ghost frogs! It is called the ghost frog family! SPOOKY! OoooOOOOooo

The Devil Frog is a extinct species of frog. It was the largest frog ever (that we know of). It also ate dinosaurs. V spooky

What could be more spooky than combining demons and poison into 1 frog? Idk

There are a few frogs named after rock stars. Here are some of them.

Images by Carl Lender and Davidvraju

One of the greatest singers of all time, Freddie Mercury was honored by having a whole genus named after him. The genus is Mercurana. It only has one species in it though, Mercurana myristicapalustris.

Images by Lionel Urman and fansite.com

Roxanne you don’t have to put on the red light but you better check out this frog named after Sting. Dendropsophus stingi  from Colombia is named after Sting and his conservation efforts. Sadly most people call it the Kaplan’s Garagoa treefrog instead of the Sting Frog.

Images by Maxildsm and Pedro Peloso

This frog, Dendropsophus ozzyi, is named after Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath. They named it after him because the frog makes high pitch bat like calls and we all know what Ozzy did to a bat.

 

Lehmann’s Poison Dart Frog – Arizona Cardinals

Tomato Frog – Atlanta Falcons

Purple Frog – Baltimore Ravens

Melanobatrachus indicus  – Buffalo Bills

Dyeing Poison Dart Frog – Carolina Panthers

Mexican Burrowing Frog – Chicago Bears

Silverstone’s Poison Frog – Cincinnati Bengals

 Golden Mantella – Cleveland Browns

Amazon Milk Frog – Dallas Cowboys

Splashback Poison Dart Frog – Denver Broncos

Moor Frog – Detroit Lions

American Bullfrog – Green Bay Packers

Manu poison frog – Houston Texans

Illinois Chorus Frog – Indianapolis Colts

Leopard Frog – Jacksonville Jaguars

African Red Toad – Kansas City Chiefs

Indian Bullfrog – Los Angeles Rams

Corroboree frog – Los Angeles Chargers

Ecuadorian Blue Glass Frog – Miami Dolphins

Spotted snout-burrower – Minnesota Vikings

Blue Legged Mantella – New England Patriots

Coastal Tailed Frog – New Orleans Saints

Blue Paddy Frog – New York Giants

Green Tree Frog – New York Jets

Gray Tree Frog – Oakland Raiders

African Bullfrog – Philadelphia Eagles

Yellow Banded Poison Dart Frog – Pittsburgh Steelers

California Red Legged Frog – San Francisco 49ers

Horned Frog – Seattle Seahawks

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ranitomeya amazonica  – Tennessee Titans

Wood Frog – Washington