Pickerel Frog
Lithobates palustris (LeConte, 1825)

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Trogloxene

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 31 counties across eight states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama

Conecuh, Jackson, Morgan

Arkansas

Baxter, Independence, Izark

Connecticut

Litchfield

Georgia

Dade, Walker

Illinois

Monroe, Randolph, Union

Kentucky

Edmonson, Hart, Larue, Laurel, Pulaski, Trigg

Oklahoma

Adair, Delaware

Tennessee

Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Knox, Marion, Maury, Overton, Roane, Robertson, Van Buren

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

Assessed in 2022.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

National ranks

Canada

N5 Secure

United States

N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Ontario

S4 Apparently Secure

New Brunswick

S5 Secure

Nova Scotia

S5 Secure

Prince Edward Island

S2 Imperiled

Quebec

S4 Apparently Secure

Pennsylvania

S5 Secure

Missouri

S5 Secure

Indiana

S4 Apparently Secure

District of Columbia

S5 Secure

Oklahoma

S2 Imperiled

Massachusetts

S5 Secure

Louisiana

S4 Apparently Secure

West Virginia

S5 Secure

Kentucky

S5 Secure

North Carolina

S5 Secure

Iowa

S4 Apparently Secure

Ohio

SNR Unranked

ME

S5 Secure

Arkansas

S4 Apparently Secure

Minnesota

S4 Apparently Secure

Illinois

S3 Vulnerable

Connecticut

S5 Secure

New York

S5 Secure

Alabama

S5 Secure

Kansas

SX Presumed Extirpated

Virginia

S5 Secure

Mississippi

S4 Apparently Secure

DE

S5 Secure

NH

S5 Secure

NJ

S5 Secure

Michigan

S3 Vulnerable

Texas

S5 Secure

Vermont

S5 Secure

RI

S5 Secure

Tennessee

S5 Secure

Georgia

S4 Apparently Secure

Wisconsin

S2 Imperiled

Maryland

S5 Secure

South Carolina

S3 Vulnerable

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

• Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
• Barr, T.C., Jr. 1953. Notes on the occurrence of ranid frogs in caves. Copeia 1953: 60–61. doi:10.2307/1440250
• Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
• Brown, J.S. & Boschung, H.T. 1954. Rana palustris in Alabama. Copeia 1954: 226.
• Dunivan, J.D., Tumlison, C.R. & McDaniel, V.R. 1982. Cave fauna of Arkansas: further records. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 36: 87–88. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol36/iss1/28.
• Fenolio, D.B. 2011. 2011 Ozark aquatic subterranean wildlife surveys. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 6 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B. 2012. 2012 Ozark aquatic subterranean wildlife surveys. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 3 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B. 2014. 2014 Ozark aquatic subterranean wildlife surveys. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 21 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B. 2016. 2016 Ozark aquatic subterranean wildlife surveys. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 11 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E. & Carter, E.T. 2017. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2017 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 17 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B. 2017. 2017 Ozark aquatic subterranean wildlife surveys. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 15 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E. & Carter, E.T. 2018. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2018 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 25 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2023. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2023 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 24 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2023. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2022 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 24 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E., Niemiller, M.L. & Richard, K. 2024. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2024 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 17 pp.
• Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
• Heath, D.R., Saugey, D.A. & Heidt, G.A. 1986. Abandoned mine fauna of the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 40: 33–36.
• Hobbs, III., H.H. 1994. Assessment of the ecological resources of the caves of Russell Cave National Monument, Jackson County, Alabama and of selected caves at the Lookout Mountain Unit of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Dade County, Georgia and Hamilton County, Tennessee. 200 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. 2005. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2005. Inventory of the subterranean fauna of Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee. Tennesee Natural Heritage Program, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 28 pp.
• McDaniel, V.R. & Gardner, J.E. 1977. Cave fauna of Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 31: 68–71. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol31/iss1/22.
• Niemiller, M.L. & Miller, B.T. 2009. A survey of the cave-associated herpetofauna of the eastern United States with an emphasis on salamanders. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology, Kerrville, Texas, USA, Volume 1: 249–256.
• Niemiller, M.L., Maxwell, E. & Higgs, J.P. 2024. A biological inventory of Sinking Spring Cave at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Larue County, Kentucky, USA. U.S. National Park Service, Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA. 21 pp.
• Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
• Park, O., Roberts, T.W. & Harris, S.J. 1941. Preliminary Analysis of Activity of the Cave Crayfish, Cambarus pellucidus. The American Naturalist 75: 154–171. doi:10.1086/280943
• Simmons, D.D. 1975. The evolutionary ecology of Gyrinophilus palleucus. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. 105 pp.
• Webb, D.W., Taylor, S.J. & Krejca, J.K. 1993. The biological resources of Illinois caves and other subterranean environments. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA. 143 pp.
• Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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