(Lithobates catesbeianus)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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IUCN Red List | LC - Least Concern |
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NatureServe | N5 - Secure S4 - Apparently Secure |
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Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Size |
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4″ to 6¾″ in length |
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Voice |
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A deep low note, usually described as a “rrum”, repeated once a second five or more times, the last two or three times stuttered. The calls can be heard up to a quarter mile away from early June through July. |
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Similar Species |
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Habitat |
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Warm, still, permanent bodies of water, including lakes, ponds, and river oxbows and backwaters |
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Biology |
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Behavior |
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Lifespan |
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7 to 9 years |
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Life Cycle |
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Tadpole Food |
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Algae, plant tissue, organic debris |
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Adult Food |
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Adult and larval insects, spiders, slugs, snails, fish, turtles, small birds, small snakes, rodents, smaller frogs—any animal that can fit in its mouth. |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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1/18/2023 | ||||
Occurrence |
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Common |
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Taxonomy |
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Class |
Amphibia (amphibians) |
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Subclass |
Lissamphibia (smooth amphibians) |
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Superorder |
Batrachia (amphibians) |
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Order |
Anura (frogs and toads) |
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Suborder |
Neobatrachia |
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Superfamily |
Ranoidea |
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Family |
Ranidae (typical frogs) |
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Genus |
Lithobates (American water frogs) |
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Genus In 2016, a consortium of Rana researchers from Europe, Asia, and North America showed that transferring the species to Lithobates caused problems of paraphyly in other genera. In that same year, Yuan et al. returned all North American true frogs to the genus Rana, using subgenera for all of the well-defined species groups within Rana. AmphibiaWeb uses the name Rana catesbeiana. A recent article (Dubois, Alain et al., 2021) proposed a new “phylogenetic taxonomy and nomenclature” of extant amphibians (subclass Lissamphibia). In the proposed taxonomy, the subgenus Aquarana is raised to full species rank, and Lithobates catesbeianus becomes Aquarana catesbeiana. Amphibian Species of the World, NCBI, and UniProt use the name Aquarana catesbeiana. |
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Synonyms |
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Rana catesbeiana Rana mugiens Rana scapularis |
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Common Names |
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American bullfrog bullfrog common bullfrog |
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Visitor Photos |
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Share your photo of this amphibian. |
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This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption. |
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Jeff LeClere |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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Bull Frog (Rana catesbeiana) Andree Reno Sanborn |
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Rana catesbeiana (Bullfrog) Allen Chartier |
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Lithobates catesbeiana (American Bullfrog) John Clare |
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American Bullfrog Emily Froese |
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Visitor Videos |
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Share your video of this amphibian. |
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This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
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Other Videos |
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Bull Frog Calling - Rana catesbeiana Reptile and Amphibian Video |
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About
Uploaded on Oct 25, 2007 A large Iowa bullfrog vocalizing. |
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Massive Adult Male American Bullfrog ( Rana Catesbeiana , Lithobates Catesbeiannus ) bufothetoad1 |
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About
Published on Jun 17, 2009 http://toad411.yolasite.com/ Check out http://savethefrogs.com This video contains a bullfrog distress call, toad frog size comparison, and it's release. this was our awesome bullfrog (rana catsbienna) and he is already let go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NKW0J... link to other video @ 1:04 that's me letting him go video copyright bufothetoad1 Matthew Barton 2009 |
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American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) WisCBMnetwork |
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About
Published on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Huge Hand-Caught Bullfrog! Northwest Herper |
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About
Published on Mar 30, 2013 American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) from Whatcom County, WA. These frogs are invasive to the Northwest, but still pretty interesting animals. |
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Bullfrog Hunts...Anything! National Geographic |
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About
Uploaded on Dec 16, 2009 If it can fit in its mouth, a bullfrog will go after anything, even its own kind! |
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