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antipodi
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Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:29 am
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Amphibians of California
Amphibians the class of backboned animal having moist glandular skin and lacking external scales. The word is derived from the greek meaning "leading a double life". Many live both on land and in water, with the exception of the lungless salamander, which spends all of it's life on land.
Amphibian eggs are round, darker on the top than on the bottom, and protected by transparent jelly envelopes. They are laid in water or in moist sites. Anurans lay many eggs, in the thousands, while salamanders lay only hundreds. Toads lay eggs that form long strings, while frogs are in masses. The embroyo is visible during development, and can be seen wiggling until hatching. Larval Anurans are called tadpoles or polywogs and eat aquatic plants. The gills of tadpoles are hidden from view while the gills of larval salamander are prominent above the neck Identification between young and adult salamander can be base on this attribute.
The transformation from the aquatic young to the terrestrial adult is called metamorphosis. Cold temperatures can retard the development of the young, and warmer tempertures speed the process. The first transformation is the appearance of hind feet at the base of the tail. The front feet appear after the legs are well developed. The gills are replaced with lungs and a longer intestine is replaced by a shorter one. All inhabitit lakes , ponds, or any moist environment.
Salamanders and Newts
Family Ambystomidae
Genus Ambystoma
Long-Toed Salamander (A. macrodactylum)
Dorsal stripe is yellowish with irregular borders. Sometimes the stripe into spots. Young will remain in ponds until the second summer at higher elevations, but develop faster in warmer climates. Prefer a forest setting and live under forest litter, moving to ponds during the breeding season.
Family Salamandridae
Genus Taricha
California Newt (T. torosa)
Light to dark brown on top, orange to red-orange underneath. Skin when damp is smooth and rough when dry. During the breeding season the males vent will swell. Overall length is 61/2 inches (165mm). Newts will go dormant during the dry summer months and become active after the fall rains. When threatened will lean back exposing the bright underside colors.
Family Plethodontidae
Genus Aneides
Arboreal Salamander (A. lugubris)
Head is distinctively wedge shaped with bulging muscles. Teeth on upper jaw are prominent. Upper surface is brown sometimes with small yellow spots. Overall body length is about 6 1/2 inches (165 mm). A lungless salamander which burrows and needs to be kept damp. Prey consists of insects, small arthropods, and fungi. Habitat is restricted to the area east of Sacramento, south to Madera, in foothill regions.
Genus Ensatina
Ensatina (E. eschscholtzi)
Most Sierra species have orange blotches, others are brown with orange bellies. Young havr yellow to orange thighs and lack the adult coloration. Prey consists of insects, spiders, sow, bugs, ants, termites, milipedes and centipedes. Habitat is in the mixed coniferous forest and chapparral. Occurrance is on the western slope of the Seirra Nevada.
Genus Batrachoseps
California Slender Salamander (B. attenuattus)
Slender and worm-like, long trunk with 19 to 21 intercostal grooves. It has short legs with 10 to 12 costal folds. It has a very narrow head with protruding eyes. Body color is dark with reddish brown, tan or yellowish stripe down the back. Overall body length is about 5 1/2 inches (140 mm) with over half the length being the tail. Habitat is the moist woodland forest floor of the foothill regions. Will burrow during the dry summer months.
Genus Hydromantes
Mount Lyell Salamander (H. platycephalus)
Flattened head and body, short tail and partially webbed toes. Color is small spots which has color similiar to granite rock. Has color phases that range from reddish to grayish, young are green. Tongue is mushroom-like and capable of extensive protrusion. Tail has a blunt adhesive tip which aids in climbing wet granite. Overall length is 5 1/2 inches (140 mm). Habitat is the high Sierra, in rock pile within the coniferous forest. Prey consists of centipedes, spiders, termites, beetles maggots, and flies.
Frogs and Toads
Family Bufonidae
Genus Bufo
Western Toad (B. boreas)
Skin has prominant warts with a thin white line down the center of the back. Young have yellow or orange undersides to the feet. Paratoid glands on the side of the neck are large and well defined. Total lenght is up to 5 inches (127 mm). The warts produce a milky, bad tasting, and poisonous fluid that discourages most predators. At higher elevetions the species is diurnal and in warmer climates, nocternal. Inhabitsts moist areas or ponds, and will burrow.
Family Pelobatidae
Genus Scaphiopus
Western Spadefoot (S. hammondi)
Only amphibian in the Sierra with a vertically elliptical pupil when viewed in bright light. The soles of the hind feet has a small shiny black tubercle. Body with small redish-orange spots up to 2 1/3 inches (65 mm). Habitat is in the foothill and valley grasslands. They spend the hotter, dryer months underground, surfacing during the winter and spring to reproduce. Development is quick in this species due to the intermittant source of water.
Family Hylidae
Genus Hyla
Pacific Treefrog (H. regilla)
Dark mask from the tip of the nose through the eye. Small, round adhesive disks on the end of the toes. Color varies from green through gray to brown. Wrinkled yellowish-brown throat on males. Overall body lenght is up to 2 inches (50 mm). Can be found in all Sierra environments, and is a primary prey species. The sound of the frog is like a loud cricket.
Family Ranidae
Genus Rana
California Red Legged Frog
Dark brown to light olive on the back, with a whitish "mustache". Undersides of belly and feet may be reddish and light colored folds of skin down the sides on the back. Overall length is 5 inches (127 mm) The frog is only found in a few foothill location . They need a permanent body of water to survive.
Foothill Yellow-legged Frog ( R. boylei)
Lower belly and inside the hind legs colored a light yellow. Has a triangular patch on the snout. Does not produce an odor when handled, and smaller than the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog. Overall body length ia 2 3/4 inches (70 mm)Habitat in the intermittant streams of the foothill regions so reproduction and development is quick. Will congregate near small pools during the summer months.
Mountain Yellow-legged Frog ( R. muscosa)
Dark brownish with blotches with the lower belly and inside the hind legs a dark yellow. When handled produces a musky smell and an overall body length of 3 1/2 inches (90 mm). Tadpoles often do not metamorphose until the second summer due to their existance in the High Sierra. Primary prey of Garter Snakes.
Bullfrog (R. catesbeiana)
AMERICAN BULLFROG
Usually has a light green snout with undersides whitish with dark green spots and no dorsollateral fods of skin. The eardrum in the males is usually larger than the eye. The largest frog in North America with a overall length of 8 inches (203 mm) Not a native to California but introduced from the eastern states. It is responsible for replacing native frogs and has become very well established.
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Antipodi
May one day man and Animals live together in harmony and peace
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SerpantSkin
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 23
Karma: 0 (0)
Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:09 pm
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ur missing some i think, i know i have my list somewhere around here, ill try to find the rest of the species
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antipodi
Site Admin
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 1141
Karma: +6 (6)
Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:30 am
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Thanx Serpantskin great to see the input and good knowledge for the readers..
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Antipodi
May one day man and Animals live together in harmony and peace
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