Anurans (frogs and

toads)
- Life history
- calls
- Must know for Ont
- Learn spring peeper 1st
- Tadpoles:
- Know Ont to family
- Labial tooth row formula
- Characters
- diversity
characters to recognize

- parotoid gland (eternal skin gland behind ear)

- interparotoid gland distance at anterior vs posterior end
- cranial ridge (skeletal protrusions on skull behind eye
socket
- boss (raised bump between the eyes)
 Info on calls
- All ON calls are AM calls
- Calls depend on temp
(always take temp while
recording calls for data)
General info

- Frogs are tetraploid (have diploid gamete cells)

- Four different types of tadpoles (all ON tadpoles are type 4)
- Must be able to put ON tadpoles into their family
- Must be able to separate ON tadpoles from not
- Tip: are eyes on top or side of anterior end?
- Tip: what shape is the tip of the tadpole’s tail (pointed or not?)
- Tip: toad tadpoles begin metamorphosis very young (small tadpoles)
- Labial tooth row formula (LTRF)
- Arranged in rows either anterior to the mouth (A1,A2,etc) or posterior to the mouth (P1,P2,etc)
- Gaps may be present in a row (indicated by (#))
- All tadpoles of a species may not have an identical pattern (indicated by [#])
- https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/tadtrow.htm
family pelobatidae

- webbed hind feet, shovel shaped

family dendrobatidae

- poison dart frogs

- very small, black when preserved
family bombinatoridae

- lighter belly then back

- spots over body
family pipidae

- dorsalventrally depressed body shape

- lack a tongue
family ascaphidae

have a “tail” for interal fertilization

 family ranidae
- known as true frogs
- ON has rana papiens (pictured) (leopard
frog)
- Dark roundish spots over body
- Prominent and complete dorsolateral folds
- Light stripe visible on upper jaw
- spots line up when legs are closed
- ON has rana catesbeiana (bullfrog)
- pointed toes
- lack dorsolateral folds
- black spots
- ON has rana clamitans (green frog)
- well developed dorsolateral folds
- pointed snouts
- large eardrums
- black spots
family ranidae contd
- ON rana septentrionalis (mink frog)
- Many blotches and dark markings
- Often have no dorsolateral folds
- Webbed hind feet with large joint on the fourth
toe
- ON rana sylvatica (wood frog)
- Prominent dark mask from nose that becomes
wider at eyes and over the parotoid gland,
includes eardrums
- Prominent dorsolateral folds
- ON rana palustris (pickeral frog)
- Squarish or rectangular dark spots arranged in
two or three parallel rows dorsolaterally
- Light-coloured dorsolateral folds
family rhacophoridae

- tree frogs
- diamond shaped torso, small hips
- some have sticky pads on digit tips
- nonwebbed feet
family microhylidae

- wide hips
- narrow mouthed frogs and toads
family leptodactylidae

- morphologically similar to ranidae

- very diverse group
family hylidae

- have an extra cartiledge on each toe (step

toe)
- gives them extra flexibility
ON hylidae
- Hyla versicolor (gray treefrog)
- Various dark marking over body
- Distinct light spot beneath each eye
- Pseudacris crucifer (spring peeper)
- Distinct dark ‘x’ marking on dorsal side, accompanied by other dark
markings
- Distinct line band that spans from one eye to the other
- Well developed toe-pads
- Pseudacris triseriata (western chorus frog)
- Slender, pointed snout
- Three longitudinal stripes with more stripes along the sides of body
- White line along upper lip
- Pseudacris maculata (boreal chorus frog)
- Short hind legs in comparison to P.triseriata
- Larger body size than P.triseriata
- Three dark longitudinal stripes along body
tadpoles
tadpoles contd