Stats

Lifespan: 7-9 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Nocturnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Freshwater wetland
Range: North America
Movement: Hopping
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

North America's largest native frog, with an olive-green back, mottled blotches, and a pale belly. Males boom out a deep, foghorn-like call that carries up to half a mile across ponds and swamps.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2.
tadpole
A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3.
juvenile
A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4.
adult
Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Lithobates
Species: Lithobates catesbeianus