Rana aurora
—
Northern Red-legged Frog
The California Red-legged Frog (Rana draytonii) was recently split off from this species.
![Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)](../images/herps/standard/red-legs_Gold_Bluffs.jpg)
![Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)](../images/herps/standard/frog_in_stream_Fern_Canyon.jpg)
![Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)](../images/herps/standard/frog_red_belly_Prairie_Ck.jpg)
![Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)](../images/herps/standard/015622_northern_red-legged_frog.jpg)
Although its California cousins are rare and growing rarer, this species seems to be thriving, at least in the various streams, ponds, and lakes that I visited on our summer trip. These three photos show three progressively larger individuals that I saw in different places on the same day. The first one pictured here was probably a tadpole not too long ago; it was about an inch long, living in a large pond. The second one was about 2 1/2 inches long, and was living in a stream. The third and fourth photos show the same nice big fat frog, about 4 inches long. It was leaping about on the forest floor in the general vicinity of a stream.
![Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)](../images/herps/standard/frog_New_River.jpg)
Here's another fairly young frog, living in some really disgusting muck at the edges of the aptly-named Mud Lake.
Printed references:
- Behler, J. L., King, F. W. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians
- Corkran, C. C., Thoms, C. R. 1996. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia: A Field Identification Guide
- Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, Eighth Edition
- Elliott, L., Gerhardt, C. and Davidson, C. 2009. The Frogs and Toads of North America
- Schoenherr, A. A. 1992. A Natural History of California
- Stebbins, R. C. 2003. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition