Relict Leopard Frog

Painting of a Relic Leopard Frog

The relict leopard frog is a minor success story. The species was long thought to be extinct or near extinction, although surviving populations have been found. They exist in isolated springs and creeks in desert environments, near reservoirs and recreation sites in an area that has been rapidly urbanized. Accordingly, the species must be considered to be highly vulnerable.

The relict leopard frog was found in creeks, springs, and seeps in the vicinity of the Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada, and the Virgin River Valley, Washington County, Utah, at elevations between 370 meters and 760 meters. Many of these populations are now extinct. Recent field work has discovered a few small populations in extreme northwestern Arizona along the Virgin River, from near Littlefield downstream to the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. New populations have been discovered in springs that enter the Colorado River in Black Canyon, south of Hoover Dam in Nevada/Arizona.

 

Range Map

 
Map of North America, showing the relic leopard frog range.
 
Legend for the range map uses red to show the relic leopard frog's range.
 

This species occurs on the border region of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, USA, mostly below 1,000m above sea level. It was found from the Virgin and Muddy River drainages and along the Colorado River drainage downstream of its confluence with the Virgin River to Black Canyon below Lake Mead in the northern reaches of Lake Mohave. In the late 1990s, the species could be found at seven sites in three general areas: a spring near Littlefield, Arizona, on the Virgin River; several springs along the Nevada side of the Overton Arm of Lake Mead; and within several springs in the Black Canyon along the Nevada side of the Colorado River. By 2001, two of these populations, including the one near Littlefield, had gone extinct.

 

Fast Facts

 
One of the major predators of the Relict Leopard from is the introduced bullfrog.
 
Graph showing the IUCN threat level for relict leopard frogs as Endangered.
 

Interesting Facts

 
 

References

 
Threat Level provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List.http://www.iucnredlist.org/

Last updated: December 14, 2022

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