An Official Website of the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Amphibians (Class Amphibia) form a moderately diverse group, with about 4,100 species worldwide, including more than 3,700 species of frogs and nearly 400 species of salamanders. At the present time, 57 amphibian species are known to occur in Kentucky (35 types of salamanders and 22 frogs and toads).
Kentucky’s amphibians occur in a wide variety of places. Some kinds are largely or totally terrestrial, while others are entirely aquatic throughout their life cycle. Some are found only in swamps and/or bottomland forests bordering the Mississippi River and lower Ohio River, while others prefer upland forests in various sections of the state or even the high elevation northern hardwood forests in extreme southeastern Kentucky. A few even occupy open grasslands and prairie remnants.
All of Kentucky’s frogs and toads breed and lay their eggs in water. Some species prefer temporary ponds, road ruts, and ditches as breeding sites while others use permanent ponds or even the backwater areas of rivers and large streams. Kentucky’s salamanders are more variable in breeding habitat; 10 kinds are completely terrestrial at all life stages while the remaining 25 species have aquatic larvae. The terrestrial forms deposit their eggs in moist places on land, the eggs are brooded by the females, and all larval development takes place within the eggs. Those species with aquatic larval stages are themselves quite variable – 9 kinds only breed in ponds, 2 use swamps and/or wetlands, 2 utilize large streams and rivers, and 12 reproduce in springs, seeps, and headwater streams. All adult salamanders and frogs in Kentucky are predators, mostly feeding on insects and other small creatures. All salamander larvae are also predaceous, but frog larvae (tadpoles) are herbivores.
KDFWR monitors approximately 40% of Kentucky’s amphibian fauna (9 frogs and 14 salamanders) due to conservation needs. Efforts include breeding pond management, nocturnal call surveys, population monitoring, disease surveillance, research support, and species distribution mapping.
A complete list of amphibian species known from Kentucky appears below. Those marked with asterisks (**) are currently being studied, tracked, monitored, or given special management consideration as a species of greatest conservation need under Kentucky’s Wildlife Action Plan .
Frogs and Toads of Kentucky Identification
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