California Reptiles & Amphibians

Rana cascadae - Cascades Frog

Click on a picture for a larger view

Historical Range in California: Red

Listen to this frog:

A short example

More sounds of
Rana cascadae

Adult, Siskiyou County

Subadult, Siskiyou County

Juvenile, Siskiyou County

Adult underside

Adult, Siskiyou County

Juvenile, Siskiyou County

Male and female in amplexus, Kittitas County, Washington

A very cold-tolerant male frog next to melting snow in the breeding season, Kittitas County, Washington

Egg mass, 4,000 ft., Clackamas County, Oregon

Tadpole, King County, Washington

Juvenile, King County, Washington

More pictures of eggs, tadpoles, and breeding habitat can be viewed here.

Adult in habitat, 5,700 ft.
Siskiyou County

Habitat, 5,700 ft. Siskiyou County

Rana cascadae is now absent from many high elevation wet meadows it once inhabited, such as this one on Mt. Shasta, Siskiyou County.

Short Video

A look at a Cascdes Frog breeding pond high in the Cascades, including the pond surrounded by melting snow, male frogs in calling position, two calling males, and two episodes of male frogs attempting to mount other males with sounds of protest.

More pictures are available on our Northwest Herps page.

Description

Size

Adults are 1 3/4 - 3 inches long from snout to vent (4.4 - 7.5 cm). Females get up to 3 inches (7.5 cm) males up to 2 1/4 inches (5.8 cm.)

Appearance

Brown, copper, tan, to olive green above, yellowish below and on the back of the legs. Black spots with distinctly-marked
edges are usually present on the back. Sides are cream, and there is dark mottling on the groin. A dark face mask is present
with a light upper jaw stripe extending to the shoulder. Dorsolateral folds. Eyes are oriented outward. Hind feet with reduced webbing.

Voice (Listen)

A faint series of low grating clucking noises. Calls at night and also during the day from above and under water.

Behavior

Diurnal. Typically found near water in the mountains, rarely below 2,000 ft. in elevation. When frightened, swims away to escape, usually to the opposite shore or to the bottom. Often sluggish.

Diet

Diet consists of a wide variety of invertebrates. Typical of most frogs, the prey is located by vision, then a large sticky tongue is used to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat.

Reproduction

Emerges and breeds soon after snowmelt, from March to mid August. Eggs are laid in a mass the size of an orange or small grapefruit containing 400 -600 eggs which is not attached to vegetation, but partly submerged in shallow water. Eggs are black above, and white below, and are widely spaced in the mass. Tadpoles are speckled with dark spots. To 2 1/8 inches long (5.5 cm.) and group together in large aggregations.

Range

Found in fragmented populations in extreme northcentral California. Ranges throughout the Cascades Mountains of Oregon and Washington, and on the Olympic Peninsula.

Habitat

Inhabits wet mountain areas in open coniferous forests to near timberline, including small streams, small pools in meadows, lakes, bogs, ponds, and marshy areas near streams. Typically in water with no predatory fishes. From 755 ft. to around 9,000 ft. (230 - 2740 m).

Taxonomic Notes

Considered a subspecies of Rana pretiosa before 1939. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

This frog is no longer present in approximately 50 percent of its historical range in California. It may be negatively affected by introduced fish and airborne environmental pollution.

Taxonomy
Family	Ranidae	True Frogs
Genus	Rana	True Frogs
Species	cascadae	Cascades Frog
Original Description
Slater, 1939 - Herpetologica, Vol. 1, p. 145 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Rana - Frog - "Rana" probably mimics how the Romans heard their call. cascadae - of the Cascade Mountains, WA - "named from the region in which it was 1st found" from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
None
Related or Similar California Frogs
Rana yavapaiensis Rana catesbeiana Rana draytonii Rana boylii Rana aurora Rana pretiosa Rana pipiens
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game AmphibiaWeb Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Corkran, Charlotte & Chris Thoms. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing, 1996. Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005. Leonard et. al. Amphibians of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society, 1993. Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983. Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Game	DFG:SSC	California Species of Special Concern
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	USFS:S	Sensitive
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks	G3	Vulnerable
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List	IUCN:NT	Near Threatened