An article entitled, Ohio’s Frog and Toad Species, states that there are 15 species in our state. To help me to learn to identify these species, I wanted to see photos of all 15 on one page. I selected a representative photo for each species from Flickr.
Keep in mind that a single species may vary a lot in color. Below each photo, I note the range of colors that are possible for that species.
The “True” Toads
Eastern American Toad (Bufo americanus americanus)
The Eastern American toad does vary in color. It may be reddish, gray, or tan.
Fowler’s Toad (Bufo fowleri)
The Fowler’s toad may be brown, tan, gray, or light green. The dark spots on the back of the Fowler’s toad have three or more “warts” while the dark spots, if present on the American toad, have only one or two “warts.” Another distinction is that the bumps on the leg of the American Toad tend to be more pronounced than those of the Fowler’s toad.
The Spadefoot Toads
Eastern Spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii)
There are two yellow lines on the Eastern Spadefoot’s back. It is the only frog/toad on this page whose pupils are vertical.
The “True” Frogs
American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)
The American bullfrog’s back may be green or brown.
Northern Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota)
The back of the Northern Green Frog may be green or brownish green. It may or may not have noticeable spots. When it doesn’t seem to have spots, you can still distinguish it from the American Bullfrog because the Northern Green Frog has a ridge going down each side of its back, while the American Bullfrog does not.
Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris)
The Pickerel Frog may be tan, light brown, or olive-green. Note that the spots between the folds on the frog’s back have a squarish quality.
Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens pipiens)
The Northern Leopard Frog may be tan, light brown, or olive-green. Note that the spots have a light-colored rim.
Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala utricularius)
The Southern Leopard Frog may be green or brown. Unlike the Northern Leopard Frog, the spots of the Southern Leopard Frog don’t have a light border.
Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)
Wood frogs are typically dark brown or tan, but occasionally individuals have been discovered that are a reddish color, or even pink.
The Tree Frogs
Blanchard’s Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
The Blanchard’s Cricket Frog may be brown, gray or olive-green.
Cope’s gray tree frogs (Hyla chrysoscelis)
The Cope’s gray tree frog (above) and the Eastern gray tree frog (below) are supposed to look virtually identical, but they are very different genetically. You might be saying to yourself, “Hey, they don’t look so very identical to me.” But as mentioned at the top of this post, this is part of the normal variability in color that occurs in many of these species. Typically these two species are gray, but they can change to green.
Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)
Mountain Chorus Frog (Pseudacris brachyphona)
The Mountain Chorus Frog may be light brown or olive-green.
Northern Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer)
The back of the Northern Spring Peeper is some combination of yellow, brown, tan, reddish, or olive-green.
Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata triseriata)
The Western Chorus Frog’s back is brown, gray, tan or olive-green.