Lithobates sphenocephalus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	RANIDAE

Scientific Name:

Lithobates sphenocephalus

Species Authority:

(Cope, 1889)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Southern Leopard Frog

Synonym/s:

Lithobates sphenocephala Cope, 1889

Rana sphenocephala Cope, 1889

Rana utricularius Harlan, 1826

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2004
Assessor/s:	Geoffrey Hammerson, Blair Hedges
Reviewer/s:	Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson, Neil Cox and Bruce Young)
Contributor/s:
Justification: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is known from the lowlands of the southeastern USA, southern New York to Florida Keys, west to eastern Kansas and eastern Texas (Conant and Collins 1991). It is introduced on Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991).
Countries:	Native: United States Introduced: Bahamas
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This is the most abundant frog in Florida (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999). It is abundant in eastern Texas (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999) and widespread and locally abundant in Illinois range (Phillips et al. 1999). Populations in Indiana have not undergone the drastic decline in numbers that has occurred in Rana pipiens (Minton 2001).
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It occurs in the vicinity of virtually any freshwater habitat; also slightly brackish marshes. In summer disperses from water into moist vegetation. Occupies bottoms of pools and caves when inactive. Eggs and larvae develop in still, shallow waters of many kinds. Males call from water.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Traffic on roads near ponds might be a local threat. Palis (1994) reported large numbers of road-killed individuals adjacent to a pond in Florida. Within a single population, families of leopard frogs vary in their tolerance to the insecticide carbaryl (Bridges and Semlitsch 2001). Local populations are no doubt impacted by urbanization.

Major Threat(s):

Traffic on roads near ponds might be a local threat. Palis (1994) reported large numbers of road-killed individuals adjacent to a pond in Florida. Within a single population, families of leopard frogs vary in their tolerance to the insecticide carbaryl (Bridges and Semlitsch 2001). Local populations are no doubt impacted by urbanization.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	None needed. It occurs in many protected areas.

Conservation Actions:

None needed. It occurs in many protected areas.

Citation:	Geoffrey Hammerson, Blair Hedges 2004. Lithobates sphenocephalus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 June 2013.
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