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 Photo by: Lauren J. Livo |
Wood Frog
Rana sylvatica
Habitat: Wood frogs in Colorado inhabit subalpine marshes, bogs, pothole ponds, beaver ponds, lakes, stream borders, wet meadows, willow thickets, and forests bordering these mesic habitats.
Food and Predators: Bagdonas (1968) reported that the wood frog diet in Colorado includes small insects, worms, and spiders.
Known predators on larvae and metamorphosed individuals include diving beetle (Dytiscus) larvae, brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), brown trout (Salmo trutta), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and the western terrestrial garter snake (Bagdonas 1968).
Recognition: Dark “mask” on each side of face; dorsolateral folds present; hind toes webbed; usually a light mid-dorsal stripe; skin relatively smooth. Mature male: base of innermost digit on forefeet swollen; averages slightly smaller and darker than adult female; expanded vocal sacs, one on each side, extend above forelimbs; breeding call a rapid series of 1–8 (usually 3–5) rough clacking notes (a chorus sounds somewhat like a group of softly quacking domestic ducks). Larvae: dorsum with blackish and olive-gray pigment; sides shiny bronze or pinkish; eyes dorsal.
Distribution: Ranges farther north than any other North American amphibian, extending from Alaska to Newfoundland, and south to Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas in the east and to Montana, Wyoming, and northern Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. Occurs in Colorado in the mountains surrounding North Park, along the upper tributaries of the Colorado River in Grand County, and in the upper Laramie River drainage of Larimer County. Elevational range in Colorado is about 7,900–9,800 feet (2,400–3,000 m).
Status: State Special Concern
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Species Occurrence Tool
(*) NDIS has no county occurrence data for fish at this time.
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