Frogs and Toads of Iowa
If you are looking to identify a specific frog and can’t figure it out from the page, you can check my Frog Identification and see how to contact me about helping you out.
Common Name: Crawfish Frog
Scientific Name: Rana areolatus
Location: Southern border of the state
The Crawfish Frog gets its name from living in crawfish holes. Its has skin folds on the side and a small tympanum. It also has a pair of vocal sacs for calling.
Common Name: Plains Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana blairi
Location: Southern half
Common Name: Northern Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana pipiens
The Northern Leopard Frog is a medium to large species of semi aquatic species of frog. They vary in color from dark brown to slim green with fairly large spots all over their body.
Common Name: Southern Leopard Frog
Scientific Name: Rana sphenocephalus
Location: Southern border
The Southern Leopard Frog has a white spot on its tympanum which can help differentiate the species from the other two. The Plains Leopard Frog is different from the Southern and Northern Leopard Frog because of its dorsal ridge. The Plains Leopard Frogs has a break and an indent near its butt while the North and South Leopard Frog just has a straight line.
Common Name: Pickeral Frog
Scientific Name: Rana palustris
Location: Along the Mississippi River
The Pickerel Frog is a medium to large sized frog. Their dorsal ridge runs down from their eye to their back and inside there is rectangular boxes.
Common Name: American Bullfrog
Scientific Name: Rana catesbiana
The American Bullfrog is the largest frog in the state. They are found near permanent bodies of water such as large ponds, streams, and lakes. Once the males of the species reach sexual maturity, their throats turn bright yellow. They are very similar to Green Frogs but they don’t have a dorsal ridge down their back. It wraps around their tympanum.
Common Name: Green Frog
Scientific Name: Rana clamitans
Location: Eastern half of the state
The Green Frog is a medium to large sized frog. They can be commonly found near pretty much any water body such as ponds, lakes, or streams. Once the males of the species reach sexual maturity, their throats turn bright yellow. Best way to tell them apart from other true frogs below is the dorsal ridge on its back does not go all the way down its back.
Common Name: Blanchard’s Cricket Frog
Scientific Name: Acris blanchardi
The Blanchard’s Cricket Frog is a relatively small frog. It’s skin appears the roughest out of all the tree frogs in the state. It has no distinct markings on it’s body.
Common Name: Eastern Gray Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla versicolor
Common Name: Cope’s Gray Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla chrysoscelis
The Gray Tree Frogs are nearly identical besides their calls and chromosome numbers. These medium sized frogs can be found perched in trees or on the side of your house. They are not always gray in color and can be green. They have yellow or orange coloration on their back legs.
Here is a video of some Eastern Gray Tree Frog males calling that I took.
Common Name: Spring Peeper
Scientific Name: Pseudacris crucifer
Location: Eastern border
The Spring Peeper is a small chorus frog that can often be found on forest floor or low on trunks of trees. They can be hard to find due to their small size, however, in spring when they come to temporary ponds to breed, they are easier to find. They can be distinguished from Boreal Chorus Frog and Cricket Frog due to their x on their back.
Common Name: Boreal Chorus Frog
Scientific Name: Pseudacris maculata
Location: Throughout the state
The Boreal Chorus Frog is a small sized Chorus Frog, ranging from brown, red, tan, to olive in color. They are very similar to the Spring Peeper but there is no x on its back but three lines that run down its back. It is one of the first frogs to start breeding in the spring, once the ice melts from the ponds, but breeds the longest out of all species.
The True Toads are your typical toad. They usually have a parotid gland behind their eyes that contain a poison called It is not advised to let your dog eat these guys.
Common Name: American Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus americanus
The cranial crest of the American Toad does not touch the toad’s parotoid gland or connects to it with a spur while the other toads in the state have their cranial crest touch their parotoid gland.
Common Name: Great Plains Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus cognatus
Location: Northwestern part
The Great Plains Toad has V shaped cranial crest which is unique for the toads in the state.
Video of a male Great Plains Toad calling by Annika Enloe
Common Name: Woodhouse’s Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus woodhousii
Location: Western edge of the state
The Cranial Crest of the Woodhouse’s Toad do not touch and are opposing L shaped. The toad is found in the western side of state
Common Name: Fowler’s Toad
Scientific Name: Anaxyrus fowleri
Location: Western border of the state
The Fowler’s Toad is found in the southeastern part of the state which can help with distinguishing it from the Woodhouse’s Toad. It has prominent cranial crests that touch the parotoid gland.
Common Name: Plains Spadefoot Toad
Scientific Name: Spea bombifrons
Location: Western border of the state
The Plains Spadefoot Toad is the only spadefoot toad in the state. It can be identified by the spade on it’s rear legs.