Crawfish Frog

Crawfish Frog
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Ranidae
Genus:	Rana
Species:	R. areolata
Binomial name
Rana areolata Baird & Girard, 1852
Synonyms
Rana circulosa Rice & Davis, 1878 Rana octoplicata Werner, 1893 Rana virescens areolata Cole & Barbour, 1906 Lithobates areolatus Frost et al., 2006

The Crawfish Frog (Rana areolata^[1][2][3]) is a species of aquatic frog native to the central United States. It gets its name because crayfish are its primary diet, and it inhabits crayfish burrows. It is also known as the Ringed Frog, in its northern ranges as Hoosier Frog, and in its southern ranges as the Texas Frog. The name "Gopher Frog" is sometimes misapplied to this species.

Description

The Crawfish Frog grows from 2.2 to 3 inches (5.6 to 7.6 cm) in length. It ranges from yellow to brown in color, with a white ventral surface. There are numerous dark brown spots on its back that each has a light colored ring around it. They have a distinct skin fold on either side of their back, which are much more pronounced in males than females, and a relatively small tympanum.

Behavior

Crawfish Frogs are nocturnal, generally inhabiting open areas near permanent or ephemeral ponds. Unlike other species of frog commonly found in their range, such as Leopard frogs (Rana blairi and Rana sphenocephala) and Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), outside of the breeding season, they are not often found sitting on the edge of the water, but instead prefer to make use of terrestrial crayfish burrows, often sharing them with another Crawfish Frog. Their primary diet is crayfish, but they will also consume almost anything else small enough for them to overpower, including various arthropods, and even other frogs.

Breeding occurs from late winter through mid-spring, depending on local conditions, with the females laying up to 7,000 eggs. The eggs hatch in approximately 12 days, and the tadpoles can take upwards of two years to morph into frogs.

Geographic range

The Crawfish Frog is found from the states of Indiana west to Nebraska, south to Texas and east to Mississippi, though it is believed to be extirpated from much of its northern range.

Subspecies

There is four subspecies of Rana areolata:

• Florida Crawfish Frog, Rana areolata aesopus
• Southern Crawfish Frog, Rana areolata areolata (Baird & Girard, 1852)
• Carolina Crawfish Frog, Rana areolata capito
• Northern Crawfish Frog, Rana areolata circulosa (Davis and Rice, 1883)
• Dusky Crawfish Frog, Rana areolata sevosa

Conservation status

The Crawfish Frog is listed as near threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and is listed as endangered in the state of Iowa and Indiana.

Notes

1. ^ Hillis & Wilcox (2005)
2. ^ Hillis, D. M. (2007)
3. ^ Pauly et al. (2009)

References

• Hillis, D.M., Frost, J.S.,& Wright, D.A. (1983): Phylogeny and biogeography of the Rana pipiens complex: A biochemical evaluation. Systematic Zoology 32: 132-143.
• Hillis, D.M. (1988): Systematics of the Rana pipiens complex: Puzzle and paradigm. Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology 19: 39-63.
• Hillis, D.M. & Wilcox, T.P. (2005): Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (Rana). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 34(2): 299–314. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.007 PMID 15619443 PDF fulltext.
• Hillis, D. M. (2007) Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 42: 331–338.
• Pauly, Greg B., Hillis, David M. & Cannatella, David C. (2009): Taxonomic freedom and the role of official lists of species names. Herpetologica 65: 115-128. PDF fulltext
• Iowa Herpetology: Crawfish Frog
• Amphibian Species of the World: Rana areolata
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Rana areolata

External links

• Rana areolata at CalPhotos