Atlantic Coast Leopard Frogs (Rana kauffeldi): Discoveries on Staten Island by Jeremy Feinberg

Dark spots covering their upper sides and reminding viewers of leopard markings account for the common name leopard frogs. The name also bespeaks membership in the true frog family, Ranidae, identified in 1814 by Ottoman Empire-born European scientist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (October 22, 1793 – September 18, 1840), as:

• Autodidact (“self-instructed”) in English, Greek, Italian, Latin, Spanish;
• Bilingualist in French, German;
• Polymath (“having learned much”) in anthropology, biology, botany, geology, linguistics, zoology;
• Professor at Transylvania University of Lexington, Kentucky;
• Trader of botanical specimens.  

True frogs exhibit:

• Brown and green coloration;
• Dark or yellowish spots;
• Moist skin;
• Powerful legs;
• Slim waists;
• Webbed feet.

They also get called pond frogs while leopard frogs additionally may be described as meadow frogs.

Subtropical and temperate weather appeals to leopard frogs (Rana spp). The spotted amphibians indeed are found in:

• Europe;
• North America.

Some species can survive in the Western Hemisphere as far south as Mexico and the Central American countries of:

• Belize;
• Guatemala;
• Honduras;
• Nicaragua.  

Some wildlife-loving amateurs also consider within the leopard frog’s southernmost American bio-geographies the Central American countries of:

• Costa Rica;
• El Salvador;
• Panama.

But all leopard frog species converge in requiring within the above-mentioned, wide-ranging distributional ranges niches which offer access to:

• Individualized territories;
• Invertebrate prey;
• Unpolluted air, lands, and moisture;
• Vegetative cover;
• Warm-weather temperatures of 60 – 80°F (16 – 27°C), with daytime averages of 77°F (25°C) and with night-time lows at 59°F (15°C);
• Water bodies.

All species of leopard frogs also articulate similar natural histories. The leopard frog’s lifespan begins as one of 3,000 – 6,000 eggs bulk-deposited by each mother-to-be during species-specific mating seasons. The mass gives flat, white impressions. Each egg has a diameter of 0.067 inches (1.7 millimeters). Successfully fertilized eggs hatch into tadpoles whose individual lengths hover around 2.56 – 3.27 inches (65 – 83 millimeters). Young leopard frogs must wait 2 – 3 years before realization of:

• Physical adulthood, with species-defined sizes ranging from 1.75 inches (4.45 centimeters) for the smallest -- the relict leopard (Rana onca) -- to 5.25 inches (13.34 centimeters) for the largest -- the Chiricahua (Rana chiricuensis).
• Sexual maturity.

The complete life cycle takes 6 – 9 years.

The historically most familiar, numerous, and widespread leopard frog species are the northern (Rana pipiens) and the southern (Rana sphenocephala). Formal acquaintance of wildlife-loving amateurs and professionals with the first-mentioned species dates back to 1782, thanks to Weißensee-born German scientist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber’s (January 17, 1739 – December 10, 1810) industriousness, as:

• Author of Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen (“Mammals Illustrated from Nature with Descriptions”);
• Professor of materia medica (pharmacology) at University of Erlangen.

Official presentation of the second-mentioned species contrastingly goes back to 1886. It showcases Philadelphia-born United Statesian scientist Edward Drinker Cope’s (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) expertise, as:

• Anatomist;
• Herpetologist (Amphibian and reptile specialist);
• Ichthyologist (Fish specialist);
• Paleontologist.

The northern leopard frog’s southeastern coastal limits approximate the southern leopard frog’s northeastern coastal limits in:

• Connecticut;
• New Jersey;
• New York.

Tri-State convergence points articulate:

• Predictions of a third species by Carl Kauffeld in 1936 – 1937;
• Proof of Rana kauffeldi by Jeremy Feinberg in 2008 – 2014.

But the Atlantic Coast leopard frog’s physique -- superficially similar to those of the above-mentioned semi-sympatric (“part-overlapping”) species -- challenge quick identification. Telltale differences nevertheless emerge respecting:

• Behavior, with super-short breeding seasons in March;
• Genetics, per DNA and mitochondrial analyses;
• Morphology, with black-spotted rear-legs and larger vocal sacs;
• Vocalizations, with low-pitched, single-pulsed chuck -- not ak-ak-ak, chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck.

Kauffeld frogs additionally handle boggy wetland niches that northerners and southerners avoid.

Atlantic Coast leopard frogs breed at 50 – 64.4°F (10 – 18°C) during March (sometimes April – June, October – November) in:

• Cattail (Typha spp), maple (Acer rubrum), reed (Phragmites australis) meadowlands;
• Ephemeral pools;
• Freshwater wetlands:
• Open-canopied marshes;
• Riverside floodplains;
• Slow-flowing streams;
• Tide-influenced backwaters.

Substantiation demands long heads with:

• Black-specked, brown-grained, cream-spotted tympanum (hearing organ);
• Dark eye-patches;
• Ivory-striped, slate-grey mouth;
• Prominent eyes, nostrils;
• Tapered snout, with brown and darker backward-running bands.

Each short fore-arm displays four fringeless, round-tipped, unwebbed fingers. Both long hind-legs exhibit:

• Brown-spotted bars, elongations;
• Equal-sized shanks, thighs;
• Five grey-webbed, round-tipped toes.

Brown-spotted, mint-grey, olive-green, smooth-skinned bodies have:

• Dark, side-paired vocal sacs;
• Granulated groin;
• Light-spotted, yellow-green undersides;
• Pink-grey lower-limb inner-sides;
• Raised folds, from eyes to pelvis;
• Yellow-green upper-limb inner-sides.

Scientists attribute to amphibians ecological roles as:

• Environmental obligates;
• Keystone species.

Such attributions communicate the fact that caecilians (vision-challenged worm look-alikes), frogs, salamanders, and toads doing well or poorly reveal environments respectively:

• In balance;
• Off kilter.

Few or no amphibians exist in air-, land-, water-polluted venues. Contamination and disease indeed hit amphibians hard. What with amphibians consequently dying worldwide, it is reassuring to discover Kauffeld frogs populating the eight-state, 485-mile (780.53-kilometer) I-95 corridor from Connecticut through North Carolina. The discovery reveals:

• Importance of government protection, scientific research, and wildlife-loving activism;
• Kauffeld frog resistance to the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis;
• Significance of such environmental education-friendly volunteer networks as Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, and North American Amphibian Monitoring programs.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz: identifier of Ranidae, true frog family
1810 portrait of "C.S. Rafinesque Somiolog.N.22.Oct.1783) by Falupi, engraved by Rome-trained, Sicilian printmaker, lithographer and costume and fashion plate specialist Pietro Waincher (Vaincher)
C.S. Rafinesque, Analyse de la Nature (1815), frontispiece: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48310198

Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens, formerly known as Rana pipiens): New World true frog, native of Canada's Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay, southward into U.S. to Kentucky and New Mexico; disjunct population in eastern Panama
Welland Canal, Southern Ontario, Niagara Peninsula, east central Canada: Balcer, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Leopard_Frog_Ontario_1.JPG

subspecies of Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus utricularia)
Southern Leopards, which inhabit southeastern third of U.S., have two subspecies: L. sphenocephalus sphenocephalus and L. spenocephalus utricularia.
Tampa, Hillsborough County, west central Florida: Trish Hartmann (trishhartmann), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/21078769@N00/15063361530

Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (January 17, 1739 - December 10, 1810) is credited with official presentation of Northern Leopard Frog in 1782.
lichtdruck ("light print"), Josef Löwy (Aug. 16, 1834-March 24, 1902); after 1776 portrait, I.I. (Johann Jacob) Kleeman (Jan. 4, 1739-1789/1790?), 1777 engraving, I.E. (Johann Elias) Haid (1736?-April 5, 1809)
Ignaz Dörfler, Botaniker-Porträts, Lieferung 4 (1907), No. 36: Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48564578

Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) is credited with official presentation of Southern Leopard Frog in 1886.
undated portrait by Frederick Gutekunst (September 25, 1831 - April 27, 1917)
C.H. Sternberg, The Life of a Fossil Hunter (1909), opp. p. 78: Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19031957; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_life_of_a_fossil_hunter_BHL19031957.jpg

Photographs of Rana kauffeldi: "Male frog presented live: (a) whole body, dorsolateral view and (b) dorsal view; and preserved: (c) dorsal view and (d) ventral view."
Photographers: Brian R. Curry (a), Brian Zarate (b), and Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell (c–d).
Jeremy Feinberg et al., "Cryptic Diversity in Metropolis" (2014), Figure 2: CC BY 4.0, via PLoS One @ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0108213

Leopard frog distributions in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic US: An arrow indicates type locality for Rana kauffeldi.
"Left: currently recognized IUCN (2012) range maps for R. pipiens (green) and R. sphenocephala (red) with areas of potential overlap (hatched). Right: newly interpreted distributions for all three leopard frog species including R. kauffeldi."
Jeremy Feinberg et al., "Cryptic Diversity in Metropolis" (2014), Figure 1: CC BY 4.0, via PLoS One @ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0108213

crossing a bridge to discover a new species of true frogs: view across Verrazano Narrows Bridge toward Staten Island, ostensibly counter-intuitive discovery locale of Rana kauffeldi by Jeremy Feinberg
Rana kauffeldi is first new amphibian species discovered in New York or New England since 1882.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Snyder: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Leyte_Gulf_(CG_55)_under_the_Verrazano_Narrows_Bridge.jpg

George Washington Bridge, on a late winter afternoon, spans Hudson River to connect I-95 traffic with Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood and Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey.
Atlantic Coast Leopard Frogs apparently favor habitats along I-95 corridor from Connecticut southward to North Carolina.
northeastward view of George Washington Bridge from Manhattan's Upper West Side: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Washington_Bridge,_on_a_late_winter_afternoon.jpg

Jeremy Feinberg's new species of frog was found in illustrious company: in the area of the Statue of Liberty and the Staten Island Zoo.
upper left photo cropped from Figure 2 quartet (J. Feinberg et al., "Cryptic Discovery in Metropolis"): CC BY 4.0, via PLoS One @ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0108213

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