Content tagged with "Reptiles and Amphibians"

Missouri’s largest frog is green to olive to brown. Even if you can’t spy one, it’s not hard to hear this common species when the males call a deep, sonorous “jug-a-rum, jug-a-rum” that can be heard from half a mile away or more.

More often heard than seen, this small frog calls with a vibrating “prrreeep” with a rise in pitch at the end; it lasts one to two seconds and sounds similar to running a fingernail over the small teeth of a pocket comb. Our species was long considered the "western chorus frog," Pseudacris triseriata, but scientists now recognize it as a different species.

This large, harmless, smooth-scaled lizard lives along the edge of forests and woodlots. It often makes its home in a large dead tree, sometimes using abandoned woodpecker holes or other cavities.

This common amphibian of the Ozark Plateau lives in caves, springs and rocky streams. Recognize it by its normally bright orange skin dotted with dark brown or black spots.