Distribution:
This taxon is known from the Neosho, Marais des Cygnes, and northern Verdigris drainages, where they inhabit areas of perched water tables in upland grasslands with an abundance of crayfish. The northernmost records from Baker Wetlands/Wakarusa Bottoms (floodplain of the Wakarusa River: Kansas River drainage) in Douglas County may be extirpated (last observed in 1978).
(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record) (,   iNat Record), (  Fossil)
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Full range depicted by light shaded red area. Export Google Earth (.kml)

• Occurrence Summary:  
• 694
  Records 
• 372
  Museum Vouchers 
• 322
  Other Observations 

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Allen (7); Anderson (13); Bourbon (25); Chase (1); Chautauqua (31); Cherokee (130); Coffey (81); Crawford (56); Douglas (112); Elk (14); Franklin (43); Greenwood (26); Labette (28); Linn (11); Lyon (3); Miami (12); Montgomery (23); Neosho (19); Osage (18); Trego (6); Unknown (14); Wilson (17); Woodson (4);

Fossil History:
Reported from the WaKeeney Local Fauna of Trego County based on two nearly complete frontoparietals by Wilson (1968) and two left and two right ilia by Holman (1976). The WaKeeney Local Fauna site is considered Lower Pliocene: Middle or Late Clarendonian (13,600,000 to 10,300,000 years BP). These records are extralimital of the species current range. The nearest recent observation is 316 km (196 m) ESE in Chase County.

Natural History:
Despite their relatively large size, these frogs are seldom seen. The Crawfish Frog inhabits floodplains, moist lowland meadows, and pastures. It prefers to hide in crayfish burrows but undoubtedly also uses the burrows of small mammals. In addition, it has been taken beneath logs, in holes along roadside ditches, and in sewers. This frog probably uses burrows as retreats during winter.
Hartman (1906) found a single specimen in a crayfish burrow on a river floodplain in Douglas County. Gloyd (1928) reported a specimen collected in a burrow in a pasture on 12 August in Franklin County.
Smith (1934) observed that this frog does not wander far from crayfish burrows except during the breeding season and that those burrows inhabited by this species have a flattened mud platform near the entrance and are three to five feet deep. Smith (1956) pointed out that this is the most secretive frog in Kansas and stated that its young probably retreat to underground burrows immediately after metamorphosis.
Busby (1990) surveyed six counties in eastern Kansas and found this frog primarily in native hay meadows and pastures as well as prairie bottomland. Taggart (1992) observed adults of this species active at night as early as 28 March at an air temperature of 51 °F in low, moist areas of cultivated fields in Allen County; he also plowed up sub-adults by day in the same fields in July.
The Crawfish Frog breeds in March, April, and possibly early May. Following rains sufficient enough to flood its refugia in crayfish burrows and concomitant temperatures above 50°F, this species emerges, migrates to small ponds and ditches, and begins to call. Their call is a low snore that can be heard for over a mile on still nights. Males mount females, clasping them behind their forelimbs, and the eggs are laid and fertilized in water. Each female may deposit up to 7,000 eggs in shallow water in masses 127.0-152.4 mm (5-6 inches) in diameter around plants and stems. The eggs hatch and tadpoles metamorphose during the summer.
Collins and Dawson (1975) found a chorus of 15-20 male Crawfish Frogs in a roadside slough on 5 May in Cherokee County. The slough had a maximum depth of 60 cm. The frogs were calling amidst a chorus of Southern Leopard Frogs. Caldwell and Glass (1976) found examples of the Crawfish Frog calling in a small farm pond on 30 April and l May in Woodson County. The frogs were calling at air temperatures of 50-60°F following a steady, heavy rain. Collins (1982) reported an extensive chorus of these frogs calling from roadside ditches and flooded fields in Miami County on 2 April. Collins (1982) heard choruses of this frog from 19 March to 30 April in Cherokee County. Busby (1990) recorded this frog calling in six eastern counties from 9 March to 14 April. Taggart (1992) heard this frog chorusing in Allen County on 2 April at an air temperature of 58°F.

Occurrence Activity:
Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 80; Range: 06 Mar to 30 Sep

Chorusing:

Audio recording by Keith Coleman.

Chorusing Phenology: The black outlined dots denote the Julian date (day of the year; 1 January = 1 to 31 December = 365) an observation was made. The thin red line depicts the range of dates between the beginning of the first, and end of the fourth quartile (excluding outliers; Tukey method). The thick light blue bar represents the second and third quartile (interquartile range; the middle 50% of all observations). Only one observation per Julian date is included in the graphs; so a date with multiple observations carries the same weight as a date with only one observation. The vertical bars correspond to the 12 months of the year; January through December.
Number of Unique Obervations: 271; Range: 06 Mar to 07 Jul; Interquartile range: 24 Mar to 24 Apr;

Remarks:
The Crawfish Frog was first reported in Kansas by Hartman, (1906) based on a single specimen discovered in the Wakarusa bottoms near Lawrence, Douglas County. The earliest existing specimen (KU 9275) was collected at Lawrence, Douglas County, in August 1910 by Francis A. Hartman.
Platt et al. (1974) recommended that breeding and habitat sites of this species be designated sanctuaries. Collins (1993) stated that this species may be disappearing rapidly from previously suitable habitat in Kansas due to its susceptibility to fluctuations of the water table caused by construction of dams, dikes, and levees.
Busby (1997) suggested that Crawfish Frogs were locally common in Kansas. And that they may be the dominant Ranid in high-quality habitat (remnant tallgrass prairie). However, he cautioned that little of this habitat exists compared to pre-settlement times.
Most Crawfish Frog observations are made in conjunction with breeding activity, by either hearing choruses or intercepting adults moving to a breeding site. Individuals of both sexes congregate in large water-filled depression and small farm ponds generally with some emergent vegetation such as cattails present. Additionally, individuals are regularly observed while attempting to cross roadways on rainy nights, but only while chorusing was taking place nearby. In fact, the detection of a frog on the road often reveals the existence of an adjacent chorus that we might otherwise have missed. Juvenile/metamorphs are seldom reported from roadways.
The Crawfish Frog is an abundant yet seldom seen component of the Kansas herpetofauna. Reports prior to Busby (1997) were generally isolated and infrequent (e.g. Hartman (1906), Taggart (1992)). The Crawfish Frog's early and relatively brief breeding season and its secretive habit of remaining in burrows the remainder of the year create the perception of rarity.
Despite, our increased understanding of the distribution and natural history of this species in Kansas, a cautionary note is needed. The populations of Crawfish Frogs have been extirpated from a portion of their range along the Wakarusa River near Lawrence by 1979 (von Achen, 1987). There is no apparent explanation for the disappearance, and this example further demonstrates that even the best-studied and managed systems are not exempt from such catastrophes. A repatriation attempt (J. Collins, pers. comm.) into the Baker Wetlands of Crawfish Frogs from Anderson County, has not been shown to be successful.
The Crawfish Frog was listed as a Kansas Threatened species in 1978 and downlisted to SINC in 1993.