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Wood Frog
Rana sylvatica
By Keisha
Classification
Kingdom: Anamalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Lithobates
Species: L. Sylvaticus
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Physical Description
Wood Frogs are usually 35 to 76 millimeters long. All females are larger
than males. Wood Frogs are tan, brown, and a rust color. Under the frog is
yellowish sometimes its a greenish white.
Diet and Feeding Habits
The Wood Frog eats mainly a variety of insects and small invertebrates,
for example: Spiders, beetles, moth larvae, slugs, and snails. The Wood Frog
is a carnivore because of its diets on small insects.
Reproduction
In mating season, the male Wood Frog has a mating call. Occasionally when
males roam around looking for females, it ends up with two males fighting
over a female. Wood Frogs mate as early March until the beginning of May,
at the very latest. Wood Frogs are the first ones to start their calls because
they start so early in the spring. The eggs of Wood Frogs come in masses,
that are attached to twigs,or grasses. In each egg mass it can contain
1000 to 3000 eggs. There is a gel-like substance around the eggs to protect
them; after about a week the gel turns green and is used for camouflage to
protect the eggs from harms way.
Habitat
Wood frogs are found in northern Georgia, Alabama, Maine, and in the Northeastern
United States. Wood Frogs mainly breed and live in emphermeral pools, swamps,
woodlands, and bogs.
Role in the Ecosystem
The Wood Frog is a carnivore.
In many cases the wood frog is the predator and prey. When its prey, it is
consumed by birds such as herons, and snakes. To catch prey the wood frog
has a long sticky tongue that it can flick at prey. The wood frog lives up
to its name and lives mainly in wooded areas, they also live in meadows,
or urban areas.
Bibliography
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/rana_sylvatica.html
http://www.naturenorth.com/spring/creature/woodfrog/fwf.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wood_frog
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