Rana pretiosa
Identification Tips:
Adults
• Ear drum is smaller than the eye
• Underside of legs red or orange in adults, but skin is not translucent as in Red-legged Frog
• Lacks prominent patch of bright green, yellow, and black mottling on hip that Red-legged frog has
• Small bumps and larger black spots with blurred edges on back, sides and head
• To 105 mm length, excluding legs
Egg Masses
• Laid in very shallow water (usually <10 cm); often in clusters with masses touching one another
• Not attached to grass, branches or other anchor points
Conservation Status:
| British Columbia | Canada | Natureserve | |
| COSEWIC | Species at Risk Act | ||
| Red List | Endangered | Endangered | G2, S1 |
Life History:
• Rarely ever leave the water
• Breed from late February to early April in Fraser Valley
• Often deposit eggs in the same specific locations year after year
• Tadpoles metamorphose in mid to late summer
• Mature in third summer and live for up to 10 years
• Overwinter in springs, beaver dams, or mud in deep open water
• Adults feed on a variety of invertebrates, including mollusks, and larval or juvenile amphibians
• Tadpoles eat algae, organic debris, plant material and plankton
Habitat:
• Permanent water bodies with little or no current and abundant aquatic vegetation; usually larger than 4 ha
• Primarily sloughs and wetlands, but also streams, farm ditches; lakes in United States.
• Breed in open sunny locations in very shallow water, often in seasonally flooded areas,
Range:
British Columbia
• Limited to Eastern Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Agassiz areas)
Global
• West of Cascade Mountains from Fraser Valley, British Columbia to northern California.
Comments:
• Several populations in the Fraser Valley have disappeared since the 1960s: Little Campbell River (Langley/Surrey) ,Bertrand Creek (Langley), West Creek (Langley)
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Primary Information Sources:
Efauna BC: http://ibis.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/
BC Conservation Data Centre: http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/
