Amphibians of Florida
Amphibians
• Moist glandular skin (NO SCALES!)
• Pass (aquatic) larval stage as young
– Amphibios – From the Greek meaning “living a
double life”
• Toes without claws
• Made up of three Orders:
– Anura (frogs & toads)
– Caudata (salamanders)
– Gymnophiona (caecilians)
Order Anura
• FROGS!!!!
• Thick head and body with long, strong legs
• Often advertise presence (especially during the
breeding season) with a wide range of calls
Family Bufonidae
• Toads!
• Have dry, glandular (warty) skin
• Hop
Bufo marinus
• EXOTIC! (South America)
• Huge size
• Skin gland secretions
can be highly toxic
•Marine Toad / Giant Toad / Cane Toad
Bufo quercicus
• Tiny size
• Conspicuous, light
middorsal stripe
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Oak Toad
Bufo terrestris
Photo By: T. Blunden
• Large knobs & high
cranial crests
• Extremely abundant
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Southern Toad
Family Hylidae
• Cricket Frogs, Treefrogs & Chorus Frogs!
Acris Hyla Pseudacris
• Many species have enlarged, round toepads
• Mostly relatively small-sized
• Known for their wide variety of
vocalizations
Acris gryllus
• Small size with slightly
warty skin
• Often bright green Y
between eyes extends
down the back
• In Florida, back of thigh
has two dark stripes
Photo By: W. Knapp
• Southern Cricket Frog
Hyla avivoca
• Greyish overall
coloration with white
spot under eye
• Inner sides of thigh
with greenish-
yellowish wash
• Similar to but smaller
than Hyla
chrysoscelis Photos By: W. Knapp
• Bird-voiced Treefrog
Hyla chrysoscelis
• Greyish overall
coloration with white
spot under the eye
• Inner thighs with
orange – yellow wash
• Similar to but larger
than Hyla avivoca
• Cope’s Gray Treefrog
Photo By: W. Knapp
Hyla cineria
Photo By: T. Blunden
Photo By: T. Blunden
• Long body shape
Green Treefrog
• Well defined light lateral line
• Many have tiny golden spots on their backs
Photo By: W. Knapp
Hyla femoralis
•Bright yellow-orange
spots on inside of thigh
(femoralis….)
• Very variable overall
coloration (grey,
green, brown, patterned,
uniform etc)
• Pine Woods Treefrog
Photos By: W. Kapp
Hyla gratiosa
• Large round spots on back
Photo By: T. Blunden
• Rugose skin
• Large size
• Large toepads
• Dependent on fishless,
ephemeral ponds for
breeding
• Barking Treefrog Photo By: T. Blunden
Photo By: T. Blunden
Hyla squirrela
• Rule out other frogs first!
• Extremely variable overall
coloration
• No strong inner thigh
markings
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Extremely common, even
in residential areas
• Squirrel Treefrog
Osteopilus septentrionalis
• Introduced species
• Large!!
• Forehead skin fused to bone
• Usually a yellow wash near
groin
• Often found in
urban/suburban
environments, but can also
invades natural areas
• Range is still expanding
northward.
• CubanTreefrog
Pseudacris crucifer
• Dark imperfect “X”
marking on back
• Pinkish, yellowish,
brown or grey
background color
• Early winter breeder
• Spring Peeper Photo By: J. Jensen
Pseudacris nigrita
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Three dorsal stripes
(tend to break up near groin)
• Prominent white lip line
• Southern Chorus Frog
Photo By: W. Kapp
Pseudacris ocularis
• Smallest Frog in North
America
• Prominent dark line
through eye (ocularis...)
• Usually found in small
grassy wetlands
Photo By: T. Blunden
19
• Little Grass Frog
Pseudacris ornata
• Black mask-like stripe •Dark spots on sides &
through eye near groin
Photo By: A. Day
• Ornate Chorus Frog
Family Leptodactylidae
• 1,110 species including 700 in the genus
Eleutherodactylus (largest vertebrate genus)
• Usually small
• Mostly Tropical
Eleutherodactylus planirostrus
• Introduced species
• Small terrestrial frog
• Call is very insect like
• Undergoes
metamorphosis in the
egg (there is no free
swimming larvae)
• Greenhouse Frog Photo By: T. Blunden
Family Microhylidae
• Narrow-mouthed frogs
(Also known as Sheepfrogs)
• Characterized by skin fold across back of head
• Specialize on beetles, ants & ant lions
Gastrophryne carolinensis
• Tiny, pointy head, fat
round body
• Skin fold on back of head
Photo By: W. Kapp
• Eastern Narrowmouth Toad
Family Pelobatidae
• American Spadefoots
• Use single, bladelike spade on back feet to
burrow rapidly down in loose soil
• Explosive breeders after heavy rains
Scaphiophus holbrookii
• Horny black spade on
Photo By: W. Knapp
hind foot
• Vertical pupil
• Pale lyre / hourglass
Photo By: W. Kapp
shape on dark back
• Eastern Spadefoot Toad
Photo By: A. Day
Family Ranidae
• True frogs!
• Typical frogs with long legs, narrow waists
and smooth, moist skin
• Many have dorsolateral folds
• Leap
• Found on all continents except Antartica
• Source of culinary frog legs
Rana capito
• Short body, pointy snout
• Light background color
with large dark spots
• Found in xeric uplands
• Usually uses Gopher
Tortoise burrows as
refugia
Photo By: T. Blunden
• Gopher Frog
Rana catesbiana
• Mostly plain green or
brown above
• No dorsolateral ridges Photo by T. Blunden
• Some mottling below
• Webbing on 4th hind
toes does not fully
extend to tip
• Bull Frog
Photo By: J. Jensen
Rana clamitans
• Plain brown/bronzy back
• Incomplete dorsolateral
ridges
• Center of tympanum
elevated
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Green / Bronze Frog
Rana grylio
• Large, plain frog, very
sim. to R. catesbiana
• Webbing on 4th hind
toes extends fully to tip
• No dorsolateral ridges
• Pig Frog
Photo By: T. Lamb
Rana heckscheri
• Large, greenish black
frog with light spots on
the lips
• No dorsolateral ridges
• Dark below with light
markings
Photo By: A. Day
• River Frog
Rana sphenocephala
• Green or brown frog
with darker spots
• Strong dorsolateral
ridges, often light
colored
• Light spot in center of
tympanum
Photo By: D. Stevenson
• Southern / Florida Leopard Frog
• Called Rana utricularia in
Peterson’s Field Guide
Order Caudata
• SALAMANDERS!!!!
• The Americas have more salamanders
than the rest of the world combined, and
the southeastern US has more salamanders
than anywhere else in North America.
Family Ambystomatidae
• Mole salamanders!
• Fossorial
• Tend to be stout with large heads
Ambystoma cingulatum
• Medium background color
with lighter, netlike pattern
• Rare species
• Inhabitant of longleaf pine-
wiregrass flatwoods with
cypress heads
• Dependent on fishless
Photo By: J. Jensen
ponds to breed
• Flatwoods Salamander
Ambystoma talpoidium
• Chunky body with large head
• Dark overall coloration with
bluish-grey flecks
• Mole Salamander
Photos By: J. Jensen
Family Amphiumidae
• Eel-like
• Tiny front AND back legs
• No external gills
Amphiuma means
Photo By: J. Jensen
•Eel-like, LARGE
•Four tiny legs with two
toes each
•Almost completely
aquatic, but may move
overland on extremely
wet nights in flooded
areas
•Two-toed Amphiuma, congo eel,
conger eel, lamper eel, ditch eel
Photo By: K. Sorenson
Family Plethodontidae
• Lungless salamanders!
• Respire through the skin
• Tend to be slender with long tails
• Have a nasolabial groove
• Found most commonly in areas with
some kind of running water (streams,
seeps, springs & waterfalls)
Desmognathus apalachicola
• 10-14 pairs of light,
often coalescing
dorsal spots w/ black
fringes
• Belly pure white
• Apalachicola Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus auriculatus
• Dark overall
• Series of “portholes”
along sides of body
and tail
• Associated with
cypress ponds and
stagnant pools
Photo by: B. Means
42
• Southern Dusky Salamander
Eurycea cirrigera
• Two dark lines bordering
yellowish middorsal stripe
• Tail longer than body
• Five toes on hind feet
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Southern Two-lined Salamander
Eurycea longicauda
• Three dark stripes on
yellow background
• Tail longer than body
• Five toes on hind feet
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Three-lined Salamander
(listed as Eurycea longicauda
guttolineatta in Peterson’s)
Eurycea quadridigittata
• Very tiny size
• Four toes on hind feet
• Three dark stripes on
lighter background
Photo By: D. Stevenson
• Dwarf Salamander
Plethodon grobmani
• Long, skinny, mostly
black salamander with
light flecks
• Distinct costal grooves
• Southeastern Slimy Salamander
(part of P.glutinosus complex)
Pseudotriton montanus
• Plain rusty brown color Photo By: W. Van Devender
above
• Pale venter with sparse dark
speckles
• Eastern / Rusty Mud Salamander
(listed as P. m. floridanus in guide)
Pseudotriton ruber
• Reddish orange above
with white flecking, esp.
concentrated on head
• Belly pale with many
small black speckles
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Red Salamander
(ours listed as P. r. vioscai in guide)
Family Salamandridae
• Newts!
• Terrestrial stage with rough, glandular skin
• Some species may have complicated life cycles:
Egg Larva Eft Adult
AQUATIC AQUATIC TERRESTRIAL AQUATIC
Notopthalmus perstriatus
• Small with rough skin
• Light colored with dark spots
• Red dorsolateral stripes
(faint on specimen – look hard!)
• Dependent on fishless ponds
to breed – RARE
Photos By: J. Jensen
• Striped Newt
Notopthamus viridiscens
Photo By: R. Birkhead
• Small with rough skin
• Dusky colored with lighter
orange, yellow, or red
Photo By: J. Jensen
spots
• Pale belly with many dark
flecks
• Eastern Newt
Family Sirenidae
• Highly aquatic
• Eel-like, but with substantial front legs
• No hind legs
• External, bushy gills
Siren intermedia
• NO HIND LIMBS
• Eel-like with bushy gills Photo By: J. Jensen
• Large front limbs
• Medium size
• Highly aquatic
• Lesser Siren
Siren lacertina
• Eel-like with bushy gills
• NO HIND LEGS
• Large, well developed
front limbs
• Large size
• Highly aquatic
Photo By: J. Jensen
• Greater Siren
Questions?
Photo By: T. Blunden