Dusky Gopher Frog
Encyclopedia
The Mississippi gopher frog (Rana sevosa) or dusky gopher frog is a rare species of true frog
. It is endemic to the southern United States
, and its natural habitat
s are temperate, coastal forest
s and intermittent freshwater marsh
es. This secretive frog is on average 3 inches (8 cm) long, with a dark brown or black dorsal surface covered in warts.
in 1940. Subsequently it was considered one of several subspecies of the more widespread and common gopher frog
(Rana capito). It was re-elevated to species status in 2001.
in lower Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama—from east of the Mississippi River Delta
to the Mobile Bay
. However, it has not been seen in Alabama since 1922 or in Louisiana since 1967. Presently, the population is approximately 100 frogs found in only one body of water (Glen's Pond) in Harrison County, Mississippi
and possibly several other locations in Jackson County, Mississippi
.
The diet of adult frogs probably includes frogs, toads, insects, spiders, and earthworms. Males reach sexual maturity at 4 to 6 months and females at 2 to 3 years. The fist-sized egg masses, containing 2,000 or more eggs, are typically attached to stems of emergent vegetation. Tadpoles average slightly over 1 inch long (3 cm) and require 80 to 180 days to complete metamorphosis
in the field.
forest with abundant ground cover; and isolated, temporary, wetland breeding sites within the forested landscape. Adult frogs spend most of their lives in or near underground refuges in uplands. They often use both active and abandoned gopher tortoise burrows; they also use abandoned mammal burrows, stump and root holes, and possibly crayfish burrows.
Breeding sites are isolated, grassy ponds that dry out completely at certain times of the year; their seasonal nature prevents establishment of a fish population, which would endanger tadpoles. Substantial winter rains are needed to ensure that the ponds are filled sufficiently to allow development of juvenile frogs. The timing and frequency of rainfall is critical to the successful reproduction of the Mississippi gopher frog. Adults frogs move to breeding sites in association with heavy rains during winter and spring (December to April). Tadpoles must complete their metamorphosis before the ponds dry in the early summer.
(Glen's Pond). Several possible sites are located in Jackson County, Mississippi
. The Mississippi gopher frog is regarded as rarest amphibian in North America.
caused by chytrid fungus, an infectious disease of amphibians, has had a detrimental affect on Mississippi gopher frog populations.
populations may also be a factor of the frog's demise.
Other natural processes—such as genetic isolation, inbreeding, droughts, and floods—pose ongoing threats to the existing population. In addition, a host of immediate anthropogenic threats confront the only remaining breeding pond of the frog: a proposed residential development, new and expanded highways, and a proposed reservoir. The main threats posed by these projects are local changes in hydrology, the need for fire suppression, and habitat destruction and fragmentation. Other concerns include possible sedimentation and run-off of toxic chemicals that may injure or kill tadpoles and adult frogs.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been working with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the last remaining Mississippi gopher frog population. Both agencies have joined forces to rehabilitate a nearby pond as a future breeding site. The Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with gopher frog researchers, has developed a strategy to introduce egg masses into this pond and to determine if the eggs can successfully develop into juvenile frogs at the site. Maintenance of open longleaf pine-dominated uplands and seasonal wetlands through growing season prescribed burning is the most appropriate form of management. This management strategy also favors gopher tortoises as well. Mechanical site preparation, as well as stump removal, should be avoided in forestry operations. Obviously, all known and potential breeding sites should be protected.
Five zoos (New Orleans
, Memphis
, Detroit, Miami, and Omaha) have 75 Mississippi gopher frogs in captivity, and are conducting ongoing artificial breeding programs.
(1988): Systematics of the Rana pipiens complex: Puzzle and paradigm. Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology 19: 39-63.
(2005): Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (Rana). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.
34(2): 299–314. PDF fulltext.
(2007) Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.
42: 331–338.
True frog
The true frogs, family Ranidae, have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on most continents except Antarctica...
. It is endemic to the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and its natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s are temperate, coastal forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and intermittent freshwater marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es. This secretive frog is on average 3 inches (8 cm) long, with a dark brown or black dorsal surface covered in warts.
Taxonomy
The Mississippi gopher frog was originally described as a new species (Rana sevosa) by Coleman J. Goin and M. Graham NettingM. Graham Netting
Maurice Graham Netting — known as M. Graham Netting — was a herpetologist, an early participant in the conservation and environmental movement, and a director of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.-Biography:...
in 1940. Subsequently it was considered one of several subspecies of the more widespread and common gopher frog
Gopher Frog
The Gopher Frog is a species of frog in the Ranidae family. It is endemic to the Southeastern United States. It primarily inhabits the threatened sandhill communities, flatwoods, and scrub in the Atlantic coastal plain, where it is usually found near ponds.-Subspecies:Its two subspecies include...
(Rana capito). It was re-elevated to species status in 2001.
Range
The Mississippi gopher frog was once abundant along the Gulf coastal plainGulf Coastal Plain
The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico.The plain reaches from the western Florida Panhandle, the southwestern two thirds of Alabama, over most of Mississippi, some of western Tennessee and Kentucky, southwest Arkansas, the Florida...
in lower Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama—from east of the Mississippi River Delta
Mississippi River Delta
The Mississippi River Delta is the modern area of land built up by alluvium deposited by the Mississippi River as it slows down and enters the Gulf of Mexico...
to the Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
. However, it has not been seen in Alabama since 1922 or in Louisiana since 1967. Presently, the population is approximately 100 frogs found in only one body of water (Glen's Pond) in Harrison County, Mississippi
Harrison County, Mississippi
-National protected areas:* De Soto National Forest * Gulf Islands National Seashore - Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 189,601 people, 71,538 households, and 48,574 families residing in the county. The population density was 326 people per square mile . There were 79,636 housing...
and possibly several other locations in Jackson County, Mississippi
Jackson County, Mississippi
There were 47,676 households out of which 37.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were married couples living together, 14.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.10% were non-families. 20.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.10% had...
.
Characteristics
The Mississippi gopher frog is a mid-sized, stocky, frog whose total body length is about 3 inches (8 cm). The frog’s back ranges in color from black to brown or gray and is covered with dark spots and warts. The male's call has been compared to the sound of human snoring. Another notable feature of this secretive frog is that when exposed to bright light or threatened, the frog will put its hands in front of its face to shield its eyes. Other defense responses include inflating its body and secretion of a bitter, milky fluid from warty glands located on its back. Maximum longevity of the frog is 6 to 10 years.The diet of adult frogs probably includes frogs, toads, insects, spiders, and earthworms. Males reach sexual maturity at 4 to 6 months and females at 2 to 3 years. The fist-sized egg masses, containing 2,000 or more eggs, are typically attached to stems of emergent vegetation. Tadpoles average slightly over 1 inch long (3 cm) and require 80 to 180 days to complete metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
in the field.
Habitat
The Mississippi gopher frog’s habitat includes both upland, sandy areas covered with an open longleaf pineLongleaf Pine
Pinus palustris, commonly known as the Longleaf Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida....
forest with abundant ground cover; and isolated, temporary, wetland breeding sites within the forested landscape. Adult frogs spend most of their lives in or near underground refuges in uplands. They often use both active and abandoned gopher tortoise burrows; they also use abandoned mammal burrows, stump and root holes, and possibly crayfish burrows.
Breeding sites are isolated, grassy ponds that dry out completely at certain times of the year; their seasonal nature prevents establishment of a fish population, which would endanger tadpoles. Substantial winter rains are needed to ensure that the ponds are filled sufficiently to allow development of juvenile frogs. The timing and frequency of rainfall is critical to the successful reproduction of the Mississippi gopher frog. Adults frogs move to breeding sites in association with heavy rains during winter and spring (December to April). Tadpoles must complete their metamorphosis before the ponds dry in the early summer.
Population
The Mississippi gopher frog was listed as endangered by the State of Mississippi in 1992 and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2001. There is only one known remaining population of the Mississippi gopher frog. It consists of approximately 100 adult frogs known from one site in Harrison County, MississippiHarrison County, Mississippi
-National protected areas:* De Soto National Forest * Gulf Islands National Seashore - Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 189,601 people, 71,538 households, and 48,574 families residing in the county. The population density was 326 people per square mile . There were 79,636 housing...
(Glen's Pond). Several possible sites are located in Jackson County, Mississippi
Jackson County, Mississippi
There were 47,676 households out of which 37.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were married couples living together, 14.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.10% were non-families. 20.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.10% had...
. The Mississippi gopher frog is regarded as rarest amphibian in North America.
Predation and disease
Adults face every-day threats from a wide assortment of possible predators, including birds, mammals, and reptiles. Tadpoles face predation from fish, aquatic insects, birds, turtles, and snakes. ChytridiomycosisChytridiomycosis
Chytridiomycosis is an infectious disease of amphibians, caused by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a non-hyphal zoosporic fungus. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or even extinctions of amphibian species in western North America, Central America, South...
caused by chytrid fungus, an infectious disease of amphibians, has had a detrimental affect on Mississippi gopher frog populations.
Threats
The historic regional decline of the species has been related to loss of open longleaf pine habitat needed for subsistence and the seasonal ponds needed for reproduction. Implementation of fire suppression in the 1930s was a factor, because frequent fires are necessary to maintain suitable open canopy and ground cover vegetation of the aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Reduced Gopher TortoiseGopherus polyphemus
The gopher tortoise is a species of the Gopherus genus native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide shelter for 360 other animal species...
populations may also be a factor of the frog's demise.
Other natural processes—such as genetic isolation, inbreeding, droughts, and floods—pose ongoing threats to the existing population. In addition, a host of immediate anthropogenic threats confront the only remaining breeding pond of the frog: a proposed residential development, new and expanded highways, and a proposed reservoir. The main threats posed by these projects are local changes in hydrology, the need for fire suppression, and habitat destruction and fragmentation. Other concerns include possible sedimentation and run-off of toxic chemicals that may injure or kill tadpoles and adult frogs.
Recovery effort
A Gopher Frog Recovery Team oversees conservation strategies that include pond water supplementation in dry years, habitat management, assisting tadpole survivorship, captive rearing, construction of alternative-breeding ponds, and treating infected tadpoles. This program needs to be continued and expanded. Surveys are needed to check the status of the recently discovered populations, and to determine whether or not the species survives elsewhere. The recovery effort was greatly enhanced in 2007 by the donation of "Mike's Pond" to the Nature Conversancy..The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been working with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the last remaining Mississippi gopher frog population. Both agencies have joined forces to rehabilitate a nearby pond as a future breeding site. The Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with gopher frog researchers, has developed a strategy to introduce egg masses into this pond and to determine if the eggs can successfully develop into juvenile frogs at the site. Maintenance of open longleaf pine-dominated uplands and seasonal wetlands through growing season prescribed burning is the most appropriate form of management. This management strategy also favors gopher tortoises as well. Mechanical site preparation, as well as stump removal, should be avoided in forestry operations. Obviously, all known and potential breeding sites should be protected.
Five zoos (New Orleans
Audubon Zoo
The Audubon Zoo is a zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages the Aquarium of the Americas. The zoo covers and is home to 2,000 animals. It is located in a section of Audubon Park in Uptown New Orleans, on the Mississippi River side of...
, Memphis
Memphis Zoo
The Memphis Zoo, located in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee, is home to more than 3,500 animals representing over 500 different species. Created in April 1906, the zoo has been a major tenant of Overton Park for more than 100 years. The land currently designated to the Memphis Zoo was defined by the...
, Detroit, Miami, and Omaha) have 75 Mississippi gopher frogs in captivity, and are conducting ongoing artificial breeding programs.
Sources
- Goin, C.J. & M.G. NettingM. Graham NettingMaurice Graham Netting — known as M. Graham Netting — was a herpetologist, an early participant in the conservation and environmental movement, and a director of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.-Biography:...
. 1940. A new gopher frog from the Gulf Coast with comments upon the Rana areolata group. Annals of the Carnegie MuseumCarnegie Museum of Natural HistoryCarnegie Museum of Natural History, located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, was founded by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896...
28:137-169.
Further reading
(1983): Phylogeny and biogeography of the Rana pipiens complex: A biochemical evaluation. Systematic Zoology' 32: 132-143.(1988): Systematics of the Rana pipiens complex: Puzzle and paradigm. Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology 19: 39-63.
(2005): Phylogeny of the New World true frogs (Rana). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by D.E. Wildman.-Indexing:The journal is indexed in:*EMBiology*Journal Citation Reports*Scopus*Web of Science...
34(2): 299–314. PDF fulltext.
(2007) Constraints in naming parts of the Tree of Life. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by D.E. Wildman.-Indexing:The journal is indexed in:*EMBiology*Journal Citation Reports*Scopus*Web of Science...
42: 331–338.