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Project Noah Nature School
Lithobates catesbeianus (formerly Rana catesbeiana)
Spotted in west-central Iowa near the Missouri River. This bullfrog had an extra rear right limb, a condition called polymelia. Established causes of limb abnormalities in amphibians include parasites, chemical contaminants, ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB), and invertebrate predators.
The American bullfrog is strongly aquatic, and can be found primarily at the edges of lakes, marshes, or cypress bays.
The natural range of the American bullfrog occurred over the southern 1/3 of Iowa and up the Missouri and Mississippi River Corridors. Today, the bullfrog can be found in permanent waters state-wide due to anthropogenic introduction which is wrecking havoc on amphibian species not adapted to life with this foreign predator.
Spotted on Mar 29, 2012
Submitted on May 6, 2012
3 Comments
Thanks for all the great information here Marylou!
It's not terribly uncommon, but it was shocking how many malformations we found in frogs and turtles near the MO river. Malformations do happen naturally, but the high rate of malformed animals we saw was concerning to me.
The "malformation" isn't all that uncommon right? I've seen it more than once on a couple different species. Poor guy probably swims in circles.