Amphibians

A Cascades Frog, Rana cascadae, is hidden by the meadow's spring growth along Castle Crest Trail.

Photo Credit Mimi Gorman 06/2020

Even though much of Crater Lake National Park is covered in pumice, ash, and other volcanic rock, wetlands are abundant. Within the many streams, wet meadows, and the lake shore, eight species of amphibians are found.These include three frog and one toad species, two salamader species, and two newts.

The Mazama Newt,Taricha granulosa mazamae, is an endemic species to Crater Lake National Park. It only lives along the shores of Crater Lake and Wizard Island. It is a subspecies of the rough skinned newt,Taricha granulosa, which happens to be the only newt found in North America, from Central California to Southeastern Alaska.

 

The pond is now a puddle and the tadpole is a Pacific tree frog.

NPS/2019 photo Mimi Gorman

The Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla) also known as Pacific chorus frog is about 2 inches (5 cm) long. Aside from its small size, a key identifying characteristic is a continuous dark stripe from the front shoulders, up to and across the eyes, and through the nose. These frogs have a vast color range from green, tan, brown, gray, reddish, and cream, but most often are green or brown. Contrary to the tree frog's common name, it is mostly a ground-dweller, living in tall vegetation near water, but occasionally is found climbing on trees. Large toe pads allow it to climb easily, and cling to branches, twigs, and grass.

 

Identify a Cascade frog by its golden eyes and white lip lining.

NPS

The Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) is named for its home region. Rana is Latin for frog and cascadae refers to the Cascade Mountains. About the size of a small child’s hand, these mountain dwelling amphibians are usually found above 2,400 ft (730 m) elevation in wet meadows, forest bogs, lakes, ponds, and small streams. They rely on clean and permanent water sources for survival and are recognized as a species of concern in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Learn more about their life history and conservation.

 

Coastal Tailed Frog

NPS

 

Western Toad

NPS

 

Long-toed Salamander

NPS

 

Northwestern Salamander, (Ambystoma gracile)

US Fish & Wildlife Service

 

Rough-skinned Newt

US Fish & Wildlife Service

 

Crater Lake Amphibian Species List

Use the dropdown menu below to select the Crater Lake National Park amphibian species checklist. Once your selection appears on the page, choose to download the information or click "view PDF" to generate a printable version of your report. Use the blue print button at the top of the document to print the report, or click the blue-and-white export symbol to save the report.

 

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Crater Lake National Park

Select a Species Category (optional):

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Species attribute definitions

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