Lowland Leopard Frog

Female snout-vent lengths are between 46 and 72 mm and male snout-vent lengths are between 53 and 87 mm. Dorsolateral folds are prominent and lightly colored; they are interrupted posteriorly and deflected medially in the sacral region. There is a supralabial stripe, which is incomplete, and diffuses anterior to the eye. The venter is cream colored, with the yellow coloration of the the groin often extending onto the posterior venter and onto the underside of the legs.See another account at californiaherps.com (http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/r.yavapaiensis.html).

Rana yavapaiensis is found in western New Mexico, Arizona and presumably in adjacent parts of Sonora, Mexico. Specimens have also been collected, but not recently, in Imperial Co., California, Overton, Clark Co., Nevada, and near St. George, Washington Co., Utah. The distribution is otherwise fairly continuous, except in Littlefield, Mohave Co., in extreme northwestern Arizona, and in extreme southwestern Arizona. Populations usually are found in ponds, and in stream and river pools, in scrub desert localities throughout south central and southeastern Arizona. They are also found in adjacent tributaries of rivers flowing into Sonora, Mexico and New Mexico. R. yavapaiensis are most abundant in deep water, where they are protected from predation. In the scrub desert habitats, they are found at elevations below 1000 m. However, some populations in Central Arizona (Yavapai Co.) reach elevations of up to 1700 m.

Rana yavapaiensis has an advertisement call consisting of a series of short notes, and the call may last between 3 and 8 minutes. The first note is usually longer than the six to fifteen following notes. The internode time generally decreases as the call sequence progresses.

The lowland leopard frog is a relatively small leopard frog - maximum length is about 3.4 inches. It is distinguished from other Arizona leopard frogs by a combination of characters, including dorsolateral folds that are broken and inset towards the rear, a dark brown and tight reticulate pattern on the rear of the thigh, and usually no spots on the snout. Adult males lack prominent vocal sacs. This is typically a brown frog, although some are green, particularly on the head. There is often a yellowish wash to the groin area. Compared to other leopard frogs, the tadpoles are relatively dark, mottled, and stocky. They are similar to Chiricahua leopard frog tadpoles, but browner with a shallower tail. Tadpoles grow to > 3 inches. The lowland leopard frog is very similar to the relict leopard frog; the two may be the same species. The lowland leopard frog presumably feeds upon a wide variety of invertebrates as well as some small vertebrates.

The lowland leopard frog (Lithobates yavapaiensis) is a species of frog in the family Ranidae that is found in Mexico and the United States.

Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater lakes, and freshwater marshes. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN.