Category: Uncategorized

Common Name: Chiricahua Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana chiricahuensis
Family: Ranidae – True Frog family
Locations: Mexico and the United States
US Locations: Arizona and New Mexico
Size: 2.2 to 4.3 inches (57 – 109.22 mm)

The Chiricahua Leopard Frog needs permanent bodies of water to reproduce. They breed from April to October. The males will call from the water and make a snore sounding call. The tadpoles take 3 to 9 months to complete metamorphosis, some have to over winter and complete it in the spring.

The Chiricahua Leopard Frog is listed as federally Threatened Species by the United States government. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has them listed as Vulnerable. The main threats to the frog is habitat destruction, disease, and invasive species. Their habitat destroyed by dams, cattle grazing, water diversion, and ground water pumping. Chytrid fungus, a deadly frog killing disease that has caused many extinctions of frogs, has been found in the frogs since 1992. Lastly, non-native bullfrogs, sport fish, and crayfish were introduced to their habitat were they feast on the Chiricahua Leopard Frog.

The Phoenix Zoo has a head start program to help wild populations. Once the frogs in the wild start reproducing, eggs are collected and brought to the zoo to be raised. The eggs and tadpoles have a higher chance of survival this way. Then they are released back into the wild.

Ambystomatidae – Mole Salamander Family

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Blue Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)

The Blue Spotted Salamander is found throughout the state besides the southwest corner. They are named after the blue spots on their body but the spots can be whitish. There are unisex female populations of the salamander in northern Wisconsin.

The Spotted Salamander is named after the two rows of spots that run down its body. There can be two orange spots on the base of their head.

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Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)

The Eastern Tiger Salamander is found everywhere besides the northern part of the range. They are the largest terrestrial species in the range.

Plethodontidae – Lungless Salamander Family

The Four Toed Salamander has a reddish brown to brown coloration. On its belly, there are big black spots on a white surface. They are also the only terrestrial salamander with 4 toes on each foot. It is a species of special concern.

The Red-backed salamander can be identified by the stripe down its back. It can vary in color from gray, dark red, and bright red. It is found in the northern half of Wisconsin.

Salamandridae

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Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)

The Eastern Newt has three distinct life stages. The terrestrial eft stage is bright red / orange in color and has spots on the sides. The larval and adult aquatic stages have a more neutral gray to yellow coloration. The Eastern Newt is found throughout the state.

Proteidae

The Mudpuppy is a fully aquatic species of salamander that keeps its gills into its adult life. They are found in large lakes and rivers.

Common Name: Rio Grande Leopard Frog or the Mexican Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana berlandieri
Family: Ranidae – True Frog family
Locations: Belize, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States
US Locations: New Mexico, and Texas
Introduced Locations: Arizona and California
Size: 2.2 – 4.4 inches (56 – 112 mm)

The Rio Grande Leopard Frog is a semi aquatic species of frog, often found along the edges of water bodies. They range in color from green, brown, and olive. Breeding can happen year round for the frogs in the warmer areas, but mostly in spring and then late summer / fall. The males of the species will call from the shoreline to attract the females. Once the female selects a mate, the two will embrace in the amplexus position and mate. Females lay between 500 to 1200 eggs.

The Rio Grande Leopard Frog has been accidentally introduced to the area around the California / Arizona border due to stocking of game fish. The tadpoles could have hid into the fish that gets dumped. The introduced frogs have been found with diseases such as Red Leg and Chytrid Fungus that could be introduced into native populations of frogs, and then potentially causing mass die offs. The frog is thought to have caused declines of the Lowland Leopard Frog in southeastern California.

The species epithet – berlandieri is in honor of Jean-Louis Berlandier, a naturalist who was part of one of the first biological surveys of Texas for the Mexico government.

There are no salamanders or newts native to the Yukon, Northwest Territory or Nunavut. Sorry folks.

Do you let your cat roam around your property? Well your cat could be killing beautiful wildlife at alarming rates. It is estimated that free roaming cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. That’s a crap ton of animals.

The best way to help protect wildlife is to keep your cats indoors. It’s safer for both the cat and the wildlife. If you aren’t gonna listen about keeping them inside, there are some alternatives that you can do that won’t be as effective but will help. Spaying and neutering your cats will help reduce the chances of breeding with wild cats, thus helping keep their populations down.

There are certain collars that have been made to make your cat more visible, allowing animals to see them and escape from their attacks. https://www.birdsbesafe.com/ makes some wonderful, colorful collars to help.

Common Name: Vampire Flying Frog or Vampire Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Rhacophorus vampyrus
Family: Rhacophoridae – Asian Tree Frog family
Locations: Vietnam
Female Size: 1.53 – 2.1 inches (38.9 – 53.4 mm)
Male Size: 1.67 – 1.76 inches (42.5 – 44.8 mm)

The Vampire Flying Frog is named after the mouth parts in the tadpole that resemble fangs or hooks, not because they feed on the blood of the living. However, these tadpoles do eat unhatched eggs and unfertilized eggs that the mother lays. They are also similar to vampires in that they can fly (well glide) from tree to tree, thanks to their highly webbed fingers.

The frogs breed during the rainy season in Vietnam, between May and July. The pair of frogs breed in hallowed out trees and form a foam nest that keeps the eggs from drying out.

They are a relatively new species to science, only being described by the amazing Dr. Jodi Rowley in 2010.

Common Name: Little Devil Poison Dart Frog or the Diablito
Scientific Name: Oophaga sylvatica
Family: Dendrobatidae – Poison Dart Frog family
Locations: Colombia and Ecuador
Size: 1 – 1.5 inches (26-38 mm)

The Little Devil Poison Dart Frog is a diurnal (active during the day) species of frogs. They are able to move about the forest floor due to their bright coloration that warns predators that they are poisonous. They obtain their poisons from the alkaloid chemicals in the prey, which is primarily ants and mites.

The Little Devil Poison Dart Frog breeds all year long. The males will establish territories and will guard them from other males. Once a female selects a mate, the male will lead her to a suitable breeding location. Interesting for frogs, there is no amplexus in the species. The males will deposit their sperm on the ground or in a water bodied. Then the females will lay their eggs. After mating, the male will guard the eggs until they hatch. After the eggs hatch, the female will move each individual tadpole to its own pool. The female frog will provide further care for the tadpoles by laying unfertilized eggs in the pools for the tadpoles to eat.

Common Name: Southern Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris nigrita
Family: Hylidae – Tree Frog family
Locations: United States – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Size: 0.75 to 1.25 inches

The Southern Chorus Frog is one of the many chorus frogs that call the southern US home. They vary from gray to tan in color. They have three dark stripes down their back and one that runs through the eye down the side. Their lifespan isn’t long, only living two to three years. Like all the chorus frogs, the Southern Chorus Frog is more of a terrestrial species of tree frog, spending their time on ground.

The Southern Chorus Frog breeds in the winter from November to April or possibly year round in southern Florida. They breed in shallow, temporary bodies of water such as ponds, ditches, and flooded fields. The male frogs will call from vegetation around these areas and then the females will select their mate. They will then mate and lay their eggs in the shallow water on steams or leaves. The eggs hatch a few days after being laid then the tadpoles take a month to four months to complete their metamorphosis.

Common Name: Pleasing Poison Dart Frog
Scientific Name: Ameerega bassleri
Family: Dendrobatidae – Poison Dart Frog family
Locations: Peru
Size: 1,6 inches (42 mm)

The Pleasing Poison Dart Frog gets its name from the beautiful colors on their body. These colors alert predators that they are poisonous. There are three known different color morphs of the frog.

The Yellow and Black morph is pictured at the top. They are found in the mountains southwest of Tarapoto.

The Nominal or Tarapoto Morph is the yellow morph shown below. They are found in the Cordillera Oriental and Cordillera Azul near Tarapoto. This color morph is the most commonly found morph.

The last morph is the Chrome Green morph. They are very few of this morph left in the wild due to the habitat destruction.

The Pleasing Poison Dart Frog is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Sadly, most of the frogs habitat has been converted into cattle pastures, coffee plantations, and palm plantations which aren’t suitable habitat for the frogs.