The Southern Leopard Frog 



Eyes large; space between them narrow. (Fig. 219.) Nostrils 

 round, below the line of the prominent canthus rostralis, much 

 nearer to the end of the muzzle than to the eye. Ear smaller 

 than eye. Feet long, webs deeply indented. Fingers and toes 

 long and slender. A tarsal ridge, and outer and inner sole tu- 

 bercles are present. Thumb of male thickened at base. 



Range: Rana sphenocephala is common in the Austroriparian 

 subregion. It is reported from Georgia (Nashville, Saint Si- 

 mon's Island, Liberty County), Florida (Georgiana, Ozona, Fort 

 Myers, Seven Oaks), Louisiana (Prairie mer Rouge, New Orleans), 

 and Texas (Hitchcock). One specimen is reported also from 

 Wheatland, in southern Indiana. 



The Southern Leopard Frog is perhaps the most beautiful 

 frog in North America. It has not the delicate modest beauty 

 of the Wood Frog, but it has distinction of form, richness of 

 colouring, and intricacy of colour pattern. It has not, like the 

 Wood Frog, an expression indicating gentleness and tameness. 

 Instead, a creature extremely alert and wild, possessing great 

 powers of activity, is seen in the unusually large eyes and in the 

 attentive pose of the slender body. (Fig 215.) 



The head is long and pointed, with the eyes set far back. 

 This characteristic and the unusual length of the hind legs dis- 

 tinguish the frog at once from Rana pipiens, the Common Leopard 

 Frog. It is peculiar, also, in possessing a circular white spot at 

 the centre of the ear. This spot is never lacking, no matter 

 what the colouration of the frog may be at the time. (Figs. 

 213, 215, 219, and 220.) Rana pipiens has sometimes a light 

 blotch at or near the centre of the ear, but never this clean-cut 

 circle of white. 



The background of colouration varies greatly, but is seldom 

 plain green or brown. Instead, it is a mixture of the two. The 

 colours are equally intense, and meet each other in irregular lines, 

 without any blending. The brown is usually a warm shade, 

 not grey or ashy, and the green is most often pure green, with- 

 out an unusual amount of either yellow or blue in it. An occa- 

 sional frog is found which is light yellow-green. The spots may 

 be dark green or brown, and are not margined with light colour, 



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