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Frog (Bullfrog)

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Rana catesbeiana
Frog (Bullfrog)

Range

They are found in the eastern part of Southern Canada and the U.S. through the Midwest to the Rocky Mountains and south to Mexico.

Habitat

They live in marshes, lakes, ponds and streams. They are usually found among the cattails or other water plants.

Body Traits

They are the largest frogs in the U.S., reaching up to 8" long. They are olive-green to brown in color with darker spots on their backs and legs. They have large eardrums (tympanic membranes) behind their eyes. Their eardrum is bigger than their eye in males and the same size as their eye in females.

Habits

They live in the water, sitting with just their eyes and nostrils above the surface. They are often among the plant life that grows out of the water near the edges of ponds and lakes.

Diet

They will eat anything they can fit in their large mouths, including baby ducks, snakes, turtles, bats, other frogs, insects and fish.

Predators

They are eaten as tadpoles by every other meat-eating animal in or on the pond, including snapping turtles, herons and raccoons.

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Reproduction

Males call to attract a mate and mark their territory. One female can lay thousands of eggs in a jelly mass in shallow water. The tadpoles are very large and spotted.

Frog (Bullfrog)

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Rana
Species: Rana catesbeiana

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