When spring rains arrive, a female can drop a "baseball-sized" clutch holding up to 1,500 eggs, then either join a communal raft in cool water or scatter them alone when it's warm. Eggs hatch in just four days to two weeks, a speed that helps dodge predators like crayfish.
These frogs thrive in shallow freshwater, even tolerating a touch of brackish water, yet they can linger on dry land for days, an adaptation that lets them hunt insects far from ponds. Mostly nocturnal, they become active any time it rains, turning rainstorms into feeding festivals. They've been recorded up to 1,000 feet above sea level, showing a surprising altitude tolerance for a low-land species.
At just 13 cm long, the southern leopard frog fits on a ruler, yet males and females differ like tiny sports cars. Males reach an average snout-to-vent length of 52.9 mm, while females grow to about 63.8 mm.
Native from Kansas to New Jersey to Florida, the southern leopard frog has hitchhiked far beyond its home. Humans introduced it to the Bahamas, Arizona and two California sites. A surprise 2016 find of two females in the San Joaquin River.
Sources
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In the misty dawn of a southern wetland, the Southern Leopard Frog emerges, its golden eyes blinking like lanterns as it navigates a world of twisted cypress and murky waters. With a lithe, almost ethereal movement, it glides across the landscape, its mottled green skin blending seamlessly into the dappled shadows, as if the very essence of the swamp has been distilled into this small, remarkable creature. As it leaps and bounds through its domain, the frog's melodic song rises like a ghostly whisper, a haunting serenade that echoes through the stillness.
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