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Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife
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True Frogs
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True Frogs
Main Content
Adults are medium-sized to large frogs with long hind legs and pointed snouts; all except the American Bullfrog have a pair of low ridges (dorsolateral folds) extending from behind the eye toward the groin on each side of the back. The 3 Leopard Frogs and their relatives (Northern Crawfish Frog, Pickerel Frog) are always distinctly spotted and lay eggs in tight grape-like clusters. Wood Frogs are plain-colored and lay eggs in looser clusters. American Bullfrogs and Green Frogs are variable in color and lay eggs that float on the surface of the water in a single large thin layer.
Click on each frog/toad for more detailed information.
Wood Frog
Dorsolateral folds present
Color tan to dark brown or reddish-brown
Dark brown area (“mask”) disguising the eardrum on each side of face behind the eye
Medium-sized (adult size about 3 inches)
Breeding choruses can be heard just about any time from mid-January into early March, day or night, during early season warm weather fronts
Often completes all breeding for the year at a given pond in just one 24-hour period but sometimes additional frogs will show up there to mate & lay eggs during the next sudden warm spell
Groups of males will sometimes call late in the year (September through November) from beneath the leaf litter in the woods near breeding ponds
Northern Crawfish Frog
Dorsolateral folds present
Color light brown to grayish with many light-edged brownish round spots on back & sides
eavy-bodied and fairly large (adults size about 4 inches). eavy-bodied and fairly large (adults size about 4 inches)
Occurs in Jackson Purchase and Western Coal Field
Breeding choruses can be heard mostly from mid-February through early April
The adults travel to the breeding ponds at night during early season warm fronts accompanied by moderate to heavy rain
These frogs also may call singly from their home burrows throughout most of the year at any time during the day or night
Southern Leopard Frog
Dorsolateral folds present
Color tan to brown or green with several to many rounded to elongated brown spots on back & sides
Snout usually without any dark spots in front of the eyes
Usually a white dot in the center of each tympanum (eardrum)
Medium-sized to fairly large (adult size is 3-4 inches)
Wide-ranging but absent from Blue Grass Region and much of Eastern Coal Field
Breeding choruses can be heard from late February through early November
Most breeding takes place in March and April but fresh eggs have been found in Kentucky in every month except December
Plains Leopard Frog
Dorsolateral folds present but interrupted and set inward near the groin
Color tan to brown with several to many rounded to elongated brown spots on back & sides
Snout usually with a central dark spot in front of the eyes
Usually a white dot in the center of each tympanum (eardrum)
Medium-sized (adults to about 3 inches)
Known only from Lower Hickman Bottoms in western Fulton County
Breeding choruses can be heard in March and April
Very little breeding data is available for Kentucky
Northern Leopard Frog
Dorsolateral folds present
Color tan to brown or green with several to many rounded to elongated brown spots on back & sides
Snout sometimes with a central dark spot in front of the eyes
No white dot in the center of each tympanum (eardrum)
Medium-sized to fairly large (3-4 inches)
Found in Blue Grass Region and northeastern Kentucky
Calls from mid-March through mid-April
Occasional males will give single calls from fields and meadows during late spring and summer
Pickerel Frog
Dorsolateral folds present (usually broad, low, and bronze-colored
ody color tan to brown (never green) with 2 rows of rounded to rectangular brown spots down the center of the backody color tan to brown (never green) with 2 rows of rounded to rectangular brown spots down the center of the back
Snout usually with a dark spot in front of the eyes
No white dot in the center of each tympanum (eardrum)
Groin area in adults is usually bright yellow to orange
Wide-ranging in eastern, central, and southern Kentucky
Breeding choruses can be heard from mid-March through April
Occasional males will give single calls from late spring through late fall
Green Frog
Dorsolateral folds present but they break up and disappear towards the groin
Body color gray to tan, brown, or dull green
Plain-colored above or variously marked with dark spots
Sides of face often green in front of eyes
Size medium to fairly large (adults reach 3-4 inches)
Breeding choruses can be heard from late April through early September but things often begin slowing down for the year around the middle of August
American Bullfrog
Dorsolateral folds absent
Body color light brown to olive green
May be plain-colored or marked with brown dots, spots, or a dark reticulated pattern
Face and head often bright green
Size large (adults are 4-8 inches long)
Breeding choruses can be heard from late April through August but activity usually slows down by the middle of August