Herpetofauna: One Life's List

Rana blairi
Plains Leopard Frog

St. Louis Co., Missouri
Summer 1975

How to tell a Plains Leopard Frog?  Look to the dorsolateral fold, the upraised ridge running from the eye to the back legs.  Near the legs, the fold is interrupted and inset medially, away from the legs; sometimes it is broken into two lines.  This interruption is clear on the pictured frog.  Northern and Southern Leopard Frogs have an uninterrupted dorsolateral fold.

These are frogs of open fields and prairies, sometimes found quite a distance from water.  The frog pictured was found in southern Illinois, where they are common in some places and rare or absent in others.