Southern Leopard Frog

Temperature: 60 F. Partly cloudy. Slight breeze.
Time:10:30 am.
This Southern Leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus) was found in the Meeman amphibian pool area. (Meeman Station is in Shelby Forest in Millington, TN). This animal can be distinguished from the Northern Leopard Frog by the light spot in the center of the typanum (eardrum) and also the wedge shape of its head. In fact, the second part of its name, sphenocephalus, means "wedge-shaped head". It has nice big black spots on its sides and back, where the name leopard comes from and gold coloration on its dorsolateral folds. It is a pretty adaptable species, even living in brackish (salty) water, though as with many amphibian populations, habitat destruction has hurt local populations. They like to eat live insects. The mating call of males sounds like chuckling mischeif makers to me, and the females love it and seek out the best callers to mate with. Mating takes place in any kinds of water filled depressions like edges of ponds, ditches and temporary water holes. Just about every kind of predator eats these guys from birds, to snakes, and small carnivores like long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata) and otters (Lontra canadensis), which is why these are such powerful hoppers. They also have webbed feet to give them extra propulsion in the water. They are often confused with the Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris), who has more rectangular spots down the back.
Michal Summers
University of Memphis, TN