Green Frog
(Rana clamitans)
The Green Frog can be found within the Archaeology pond on Trent campus. This species begins to make their appearence shortly after the American Toads begin to call (May). During this time the Green Frogs are not calling and they are often found within the periphery of the pond, floating in the algae (much like this guy) or sitting in the grass. This species is defined as being prolonged breeders, as such they can be heard calling for an extended amount of time, throughout the months of June and July.
This species is sometimes difficult to identify due to the fact that the green frog is often confused with the Bullfrog (not found in the Trent nature areas). This is due to the problem that the Green Frog has much the same appearence as the Bullfrog species. Although this is true, members of this species can look quite different from one another. Some of these animals are dark green from their head to the middle of their bodies and then brown on the rest of their bodies. Others can be dark green all over. The easiest way to identify these animals is because they do not have an intricate pattern of markings all over their bodies. How one can distinguish the Green Frog from the Bullfrog is by the dorsal lateral line on the Green Frogs back. In addition to this distunguishing feature the Green Frog is also considerable much smaller than the Bullfrog, ranging in size from 5.7-9 cm long.
This Green Frog's call is relatively short and sounds much like the sound as a string being played on the banjo. The vocal sac of this species is a pale-yellow color which is located underneath the botton of their jaw. This sac is relatively small compared to those of the other anuran species. If you wish to hear the Green Frog's call you can click on the picture below.
When observing this species one can see that the males situate themselves in prefered calling sites which they do not wish to share with any other males. If another Green Frog invades this territory the resident frog will jump after this invador and atempt to scare him away. One can often hear large startling splashes when these guys are calling in the pond.