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Amphibian Week: May the frogs be with you!
Alyssa Hoekstra
Native Herpetology Coordinator
The national organization Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation launched Amphibian Week in 2020 to increase awareness for amphibians. This year, Amphibian Week is May 4-10, and spring is the perfect time to share some fun facts and interesting information about Utah's native amphibians. Maybe you'll even be inspired to contribute your own herpetology data through one of Utah's community science programs!
Courtesy Partners in Amphibian and Reptiles Conservation
Spring is an especially exciting time for herpetologists (people who study amphibians and reptiles). Reptiles and amphibians emerge from their winter shelters, become more active, and engage in breeding activity as temperatures continue to warm up after months of cold weather. Male frogs and toads typically arrive at breeding pools before females, and males often call to attract females to their location for mating and producing another generation of amphibians.
Whistling in the dark
Did you know that each frog and toad species has a unique call, which makes them identifiable by sound alone? Once you know your frog and toad calls, it can be fun to sit back, tune in to a specific call amidst what initially seems to be an overwhelming mash-up of sounds, and try to identify the species you hear.
A few species that are commonly found in Utah have very distinctive calls. If you're near a wetland and hear a noise that sounds like someone running their finger over the teeth of a comb, you are hearing a boreal chorus frog call. They're aptly named, since many male frogs calling at the same time results in a loud chorus. Or have you ever heard a series of grunts or chuckles that accompanies a snore-like noise? That would be a northern leopard frog call, which is often described as sounding like rubbing an inflated balloon.
Pine Barrens treefrog
One of my favorite frog call experiences happened when I was in college during an overnight herpetology class field trip. We were on a dark county road in Alabama, near an area where rare Pine Barrens treefrogs had been identified in the past. We tried imitating their call, but since this variety of treefrog is so rarely heard or seen, it was a stab in the dark (so to speak) to get one to call back to us. We couldn't believe it when after a few minutes we heard the faint, rapid and nasal "quonk-quonk-quonk" call of a single male in the distance. It was thrilling to know that even though we may not have seen a Pine Barrens treefrog that night, we knew at least one was still out there from his call.
There can be only one (salamander in Utah)
Amphibians require moisture to survive in their environment, and they can quickly dehydrate in dry conditions. Considering that most of Utah is considered a semi-arid or desert climate, it should come as no surprise that there are not a lot of amphibians native to the state. In fact, there are only 15 native amphibian species in Utah, and the majority of them are frogs and toads. Only one species of salamander, the tiger salamander, is found in Utah.
Tiger salamanders
In comparison, the cool, moist, humid climate of the Appalachian Mountains are a perfect spot for salamanders. In that diverse terrain, over 70 salamander species can be found, including a few that are only found in that part of the country. Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southern Appalachian mountains has rightfully earned the title of "Salamander Capital of the World."
While salamanders don't make loud vocalizations like frogs and toads, they do have complex and interesting courtship behavior relying on chemical signals, touch, and squeaks, clicks or snapping noises to communicate. A tiger salamander male will nudge a female convincing her to follow him so she is led away from competing males, and she will waddle behind him. They will circle each other with the male nudging the female's chin and the female will nudge his tail. After fertilization, a female tiger salamander will lay between 100 to 1000 eggs that attach to twigs, leaves or grass decaying on the bottom of a pond.
To combat times of drought or limited resources in the habitat surrounding breeding ponds, some individuals or groups of salamanders will remain in the pond they hatched in, and will retain characteristics of their larval stage as adults. This is called neoteny, where the adults will retain larval features such as external gills and their tails will remain flat. A great example of neoteny in popular culture is the axolotl: Even though they look like large larvae, adult axolotl can survive in an aquatic environment while continuing to breed successfully.
These are the toads (and other amphibians) you're looking for
Unfortunately, amphibians are experiencing a global decline. Many species have gone extinct or are considered threatened based on multiple factors. Some of the causes of decline are habitat loss and degradation, disease, pollution, wildlife (pet) trade, human disturbance and invasive species.
Similar issues are impacting Utah's native amphibian species, and it is important for us to keep learning more about how many amphibians are in the state and where they're located so we can manage and protect them.
Columbia spotted frog eggs
Columbia spotted frog
Get involved
Information about amphibians and reptiles collected by the public at large through community science projects are crucial sources of data for herpetologists (who, like many scientists, are stretched pretty thin for time and funding). There are many ways you can help increase amphibian awareness and participate in community science projects!
iNaturalist Herps of Utah Project
When you spot an amphibian or reptile, take a photo (or record those frog and toad calls) and upload the photo and/or recording on the iNaturalist app. Every point of data helps: By increasing the number of confirmed occurrences in the state, we can better understand the current distribution of different species. In the app's settings, please obscure your locations (to avoid publicly sharing where you found vulnerable species) but opt in to "trust this project with hidden coordinates" to allow the Herps of Utah project coordinators — DWR biologists and partners from Sageland Collaborative, Utah Tech University and Brigham Young University Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum — to view location information for research purposes when accessing the data.
Utah HerpSearch 'Choose Your Own Adventure Map'
This project in partnership with Sageland Collaborative and Utah Tech University guides community scientists by providing locations with suitable habitat as recommended spots to look for species of greatest conservation need. The Columbia spotted frog is the current focus species for this project, and we encourage community scientists to conduct surveys within the grid cells provided on the map. Any observations — including audio recordings of calls and other amphibian species identified during the survey — can be submitted through the iNaturalist Herps of Utah Project.
Western Toad Conservation Program
Help look for western toads on biologist-led surveys or complete independent surveys. Partnered with Utah's Hogle Zoo and Sageland Collaborative, this program monitors known populations of toads, and conducts exploratory surveys in areas with suitable habitat to get a better understanding of western toad distribution in the state.
Learn more
- DWR WILD podcast Episode 64: Frogs, lizards and snakes, oh my!
- DWR blog post: Ask a herpetologist
- DWR blog post: The Amazing Trace: the epic adventures of Utah's elusive Western (boreal) toads
- DWR Utah Species Field Guide
- Utah's Wildlife Action Plan
- Utah's Reptile and Amphibian Online Guidebook (rules and regulations for collecting and possessing amphibians and reptiles in Utah)
- AmphibiaWeb
- The Reptile Database
- Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
