Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

An adult Wood Frog from Jefferson County, Missouri (iNat: 75480590). Image by iNat user bryan-maltais (bryan-maltais).
Dorsal view of KU 23149, a Wood Frog collected in Lyon County, Kansas. Image courtesy of Luke Welton, University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute.
Ventral view of KU 23149, a Wood Frog collected in Lyon County, Kansas. Image courtesy of Luke Welton, University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute.
An adult Wood Frog from Stone County, Arkansas (iNat: 107254518). Image by iNat user (boverser).
An adult Wood Frog from Benton County, Arkansas (iNat: 35245568). Image by iNat user Kory Roberts (kaptainkory).
AMPHIBIA (Amphibians) ANURA (Frogs) RANIDAE (True Frogs)

Wood Frog
Lithobates sylvaticus (LeConte 1825)
lĭth-ō-bā'-tēz — sĭl-vā'-tĭ-kəs

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: SNA - Not Applicable
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None
Diagnosis:
 Wood Frogs range in size from 3.5 to 7.6 cm, with females being much larger than males. This species may exhibit a number of color morphs, usually browns, tans and rust, but can also be found in shades of green and gray. They can be distinguished by a black patch that extends over the tympanum to the base of the front limb.They also have a white outline across the upper lip. Most specimens have a light yellowish brown middorsal lateral fold. The underparts of the frogs are white becoming pale orange-yellow towards the rear, with male frogs having more brilliant colors on the ventral aspect of the legs.
Distribution:
 Known from one specimen collected in Lyon County in 1942 (Breukelman and Smith, 1946) [ "Lyon Co.: extreme southwestern corner, 3 miles east of Chase County line, be- tween the Verdigris River and the corner of the county"]. Relictual populations of this species are scattered throughout the the more northerly latitudes and higher elevations of the United States and Canada, however it is highly unlikely that this species persists in Kansas.Wood Frogs, are only native to the Nearctic region. They are found from northern Georgia and in isolated colonies in the central highlands in the eastern to central parts of Alabama, up through the northeastern United States, and all the way across Canada into Alaska. They are found farther north than any other North American reptile or amphibian.
(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record) (,   iNat Record), (  Fossil)
Open icons are questionable records; Click on a marker to view details.
Full range depicted by light shaded red area. Export Google Earth (.kml)
  • Occurrence Summary:  
  • 2
    Records 
  • 2
    Museum Vouchers 
  • 0
    Other Observations 
Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
 County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
 Ellis (1); Lyon (1);

Fossil History:
 Not known from Kansas.
Natural History:

Occurrence Activity:
 Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 1; Range: 21 Nov to 21 Nov
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: ; Range: ; Interquartile range: ;

Remarks:

Bibliography:
1825 LeConte, John E. Remarks on the American species of the genera Hyla and Rana. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 1(2):278-282
Contains the original descriptions of Hyla versicolor page 281, Rana palustris (=Lithobates palustris) page 282, and Rana sylvatica (=Lithobates sylvaticus) page 282.
1928 Ortenburger, Arthur I. The whip snakes and racers: Genera Masticophis and Coluber. Memiors of the University of Michigan Museum (1):1-247
1933 Smith, Hobart M. The Amphibians of Kansas. Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence. 383pp.
The first full accounting of the twenty-five species of amphibians known to occur in Kansas. Includes Ambystoma maculatum which is currently not included in the Kansas faunal list.
1934 Smith, Hobart M. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527
The formal publication of Hobart Smith's Master's Thesis (Smith 1933), though there are several updated and additions. In addition to the species accounts for all twenty-five species, the paper includes a history of amphibian biology in Kansas and discussions on taxonomy and physiography. 
1945 Lane, Henry H. A survey of the fossil vertebrates of Kansas, Part II. Amphibia. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 48(3):286-316
1946 Breukelman, John and Hobart M. Smith. Selected records of reptiles and amphibians from Kansas University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History 1(5):101-112
1950 Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publication (2):336
The first modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table and text say 97 on p. 10) and 13 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies.
1956 Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. Second edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication (9):1-356
Hobart M. Smith's updated second edition of his first (1950) modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table says 97 on p. 10; text says 98 on p. 10) and 11 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies. The second edition has updated taxonomy, added Plestiodon laticeps, and removed Eurycea tynerensis.
1960 Conant, Roger. The queen snake, Natrix septemvittata, in the interior highlands of Arkansas and Missouri, with comments upon similar disjunct distributions. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 112(2):25-40
1970 Martof, Bernard S. Rana sylvatica. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (86):1-4
1974 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (1):283 pp
Joseph T. Collins first Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Smith 1956)>
1974 Platt, Dwight R., Joseph T. Collins, and Ray E. Ashton, Jr. Rare, endangered and extirpated species in Kansas. II. Amphibians and reptiles. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 76(3):185-192
The initial initiative to determine population and conservation status of Kansas' amphibians and reptiles based on our understanding at the time. A lot has changed regarding our increased knowledge on all the listed species.
1976 Ashton, Ray E., Jr., Stephen R. Edwards, and George R. Pisani. Endangered and threatened amphibians and reptiles in the United States. Herpetological Circulars (5):65
1977 Smith, Hobart M. and Anthony J. Kohler. A survey of herpetological introductions in the United States and Canada. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 80(1/2):241-
1981 Haynes, C. M. and S. D. Aird. The distribution and habitat requirements of the Wood Frog (Ranidae: Rana sylvatica Le Conte) in Colorado, Special Report Number 50. Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver, Colorado. pp.
1982 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. 2nd edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (8):
Joseph T. Collins second Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1974)>
1984 Holman, J. Alan. Herpetofaunas of the Duck Creek and Williams Local Faunas (Pleistocene: Illinoian) of Kansas. Pages 20-38 in Contributions in Quaternary Vertebrate Paleontology: A Volume in Memorial to John E. Guilday. Special Publication Number 8. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. pp.
1984 Secor, Stephen M. and Charles C. Carpenter. Distribution maps of Oklahoma reptiles. Oklahoma Herpetological Society Special Publication (3):1-57
1991 Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1992 Ford, Kenneth M. III. Herpetofauna of the Albert Ahrens Local Fauna (Pleistocene: Irvingtonian), Nebraska. Thesis. Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan. 44pp.
1993 Collins, Joseph T. and Suzanne L. Collins. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. Third Edition. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Lawrence. 397pp.
Joseph T. Collins third Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1982)>
1998 Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed, expanded. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1998 Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians & Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 131pp.
2005 Lannoo, Michael (Editor) Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University fo California Press, Berkeley. 1115pp.
2006 Altig, Ronald, Roy W. McDiarmid, Kimberly A. Nichols, and Paul C. Ustach. Tadpoles of the United States and Canada: A Tutorial and Key Electronic files accessible at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/tadpole/. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA. ():
2006 Lee-Yaw, Julie A. The phylogeographic history of the Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica). Thesis. McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 90pp.
2006 Taggart, Travis W. Distribution and status of Kansas herpetofauna in need of information. State Wildlife Grant T7. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. vii + 106pp.
2006 Frost, Darrel R, Taran Grant, Julian Faivovich, Raoul H. Bain, Alexander Haas, Celio F. B. Haddad, Rafael O. De Sa, Alan Channing, Mark Wilkinson, Stephen C. Donnellan, Christopher J. Raxworthy, Jonathan A. Campbell, Boris L. Blotto, Paul Moler, Robert C. Drewes, Ronald A. Nussbaum, John D. Lynch, David M. Green, and Ward C. Wheeler. The amphibian tree of life Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (297):370
2009 Kraus, Fred. Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. SpringerVerlag, Heidelberg, Germany. 563pp.
2010 Collins, Joseph T., Suzanne L. Collins, and Travis W. Taggart. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles of Kansas Eagle Mountain Publishing., Provo, Utah. 400pp.
Joseph T. Collins fourth Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1993)>
2012 Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada: Second Edition, Revised and Updated. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 152pp.
2013 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 982pp.
2016 Powell, Robert, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. 494pp.
2017 Crother, Brian I. (editor) Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Eighth edition. Herpetological Circulars (43):1-102
2019 Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada. Third Edition. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 192pp.
2020 Daniel, Richard E. and Brian S. Edmond. Atlas of Missouri Amphibians and Reptiles for 2019. Privately printed, Columbia, Missouri. 86pp.
2023 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. Second Edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 1032pp.
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Travis W. Taggart © 1999-2025 — w/ Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University