Translations:AY Honors/Amphibians/Answer Key/18/en

Lithobates sylvaticus

Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)

Where found: Wood Frogs are found from northern Georgia and in isolated colonies in the central highlands in the eastern to central parts of Alabama, up through the northeastern United States, and all the way across Canada into Alaska. It is the most widely distributed frog in Alaska. They can be found from southeastern Alaska to north of the Brooks Range.

Description: Wood Frog is the common name given to Lithobates sylvaticus, previously Rana sylvatica. They are the only frogs found north of the Arctic Circle. In winter, as much as 35-45% of the frog's body may freeze, and turn to ice. Ice crystals form beneath the skin and become interspersed among the body's skeletal muscles. During the freeze the frog's breathing, blood flow, and heartbeat cease. Freezing is made possible by specialized proteins, glucose and perhaps accumulation of urea, which prevent intracellular freezing and dehydration. Wood Frogs primarily breed in ephemeral pools rather than permanent water bodies such as ponds or lakes. Adults emerge from hibernation in early spring and migrate to nearby pools. There, males chorus (a quacking sound) and mating occurs. Adult Wood Frogs spend summer months in moist woodlands, forested swamps, and bogs where they forage and maintain body moisture as surrounding environments dry out. Females' eggs are formed by late fall. By late fall or early winter, they leave forested swamps and travel to neighboring uplands to overwinter. Some may remain in moist areas to overwinter. They tend to hibernate in the upper organic layers of the soil, under leaf litter, and in close proximity to breeding pools.