Good morning! Found this little one in my backyard yesterday!
I was quickly able to identify it as an Easter Narrow-mouthed frog (Gastrophryne carolinensis) by the skin fold across the back of it's head. As you can see from the photos, this was a small (probably about 1 inch long) yet plump frog with short limbs and a pointed head. This species also lacks an external tympanum. In distinguishing between the Eastern and Western narrow mouthed frog, I looked at the ventral side pattern and color markings and its belly was strongly pigmented compared to how a Western narrow mouth frog would have little to no belly markings. Dorsally, you can see a dark brown back with two broad light stripes on either side.
The habitat of the Eastern Narrow-Mouthed frog is moist shaded areas, or they can be found near overturned logs. Right before I spotted him I was picking up a tarp that was on the ground next to our firewood pile and it was filled with water from prior rainfall, which probably set up the perfect hangout spot for this little one. In determining sex, the throat of males is always dark and the females is always light, so I believe this was a male. Their mating call is a nasal, sheep like bleating sound that lasts 1/2-4 seconds and is something we hear almost nightly around our home these days. This species has skin gland secretions that are distasteful to predators and an irritant to humans, but luckily I had no sort of reaction to handling him.
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3 comments:
Awesome! Yes, all this rain is probably bringing them out for breeding -- be on the lookout for eggs and tadpoles!
Hey Brandi! What an interesting find! I remember when we were studying this family, I was intrigued because I have never heard of this type of frog or seen one. I think it's really cool that you found one in your backyard!
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