Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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The Pickerel Frog is characterized by the appearance of "hand-drawn" squares on their dorsal surface. All other leopard frogs have circular spots. |
| Occasionally such as in this photo, the squares may blend together to form a long rectangle. In addition, the Pickerel Frogs have prominent dorsolateral ridges that are unbroken. |  |
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A very distinguishing mark of the Pickerel Frogs is the orange or yellow coloring found within the hind legs. The frog will have to picked up to examine this as the legs cover the coloration otherwise. The Plains Leopard Frog exhibits this coloration as well, but the dorsolateral ridges are inset medially in this species. |
| The Pickerel Frog ranges in the west from much of Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, eastern Iowa, through Missouri and down to eastern Texas. To the east they extend through northern Louisiana, most of Mississippi, northern Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina to the coast. Their northern range extends into Canada in the southern reaches of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The range is really spotty through the midwestern states and a field guide should be obtained for the specifics on ranges in a particular area. |  |
Another photo of the Pickerel Frog.  |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/herps/amphibid/species/rpalust.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 05:02:48 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww55]
