South Rim Visitor Center is open today from 9 am to 4 pm. Follow link for a list of visitor services with hours of operation. Midday South Entrance lines are long. Arrive before 9 am or after 4 pm for shorter wait times. The North Rim reopens on May 15. More
Thursday, April 24, 2025 - Mostly Sunny —South Rim High 66°F (19°C) —Phantom Ranch High 89°F (33°C)
TRAIL ALERTS: Bright Angel Trail below Havasupai Gardens, including the Silver Bridge CLOSED. River Trail CLOSED. Plateau Point and Plateau Point Trail CLOSED. Hikers visit this link for inner canyon temperatures, heat risk and water availability. More
8 species of Amphibians live within the park- 4 toad species, 2 frog species, and 2 salamander species.
Most reptiles spend their entire lives on land, but amphibians must spend at least part of their life in the water. For example, frogs and toads begin their lives as tadpoles, which live in pools and springs.
No amphibians have scales, and many have a moist skin covered with mucous.
Canyon tree frog tadpoles are found in most of the streams in the Grand Canyon.
NPS Robb Hannawacker
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.
Amphibians are important species that live throughout Grand Canyon National Park. They are predators of many invertebrate and vertebrate species, and are also an important food source for fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds. Amphibians are very sensitive to environmental change, and are some of the first species to go extinct when a habitat is changed. Because of this, studying amphibians can provide important information about the health of the Grand Canyon ecosystem. Across the world, amphibian species are threatened with extinction and declines in population. Some of the largest threats to amphibians are habitat destruction, poisoning by human chemicals, and introduced species. The protected habitat of the Grand Canyon is an important refuge for these fragile species, where they can continue to exist and thrive.
Please observe amphibians from a distance. Amphibians absorb chemicals through their skin, meaning that they can be poisoned by the sunscreen and bug spray on your hands.
Canyon Tree Frog
NPS K.Kingsley
Canyon Tree Frog
This species is widely-distributed in Arizona outside of the Sonoran and Mohave Deserts.
One of the most wide ranging frog species, northern leopard frogs were once common in the Grand Canyon, but have undergone major declines and have not been seen in the Canyon in several years.
Red-Spotted Toad
USFWS Jim Rorabaugh
Red-Spotted Toad
This toad is found from southern Nevada to southwestern Kansas, south to Hidalgo, Mexico, and throughout Baja California.
Woodhouse Toad
NPS Volunteer
Woodhouse Toad
These toads live throughout Arizona except for in the arid, western deserts. They are especially common near the Havasupai Gardens and Phantom Ranch Campgrounds.
Tiger Salamander They are also the most wide-ranging salamander species in North America, living throughout most of the United States, southern Canada, and eastern Mexico.
Historically, the northern leopard frog was found throughout most of Canada and the U.S., except the southeastern states. Since the 1970s, northern leopard frog populations have declined significantly throughout the species’ range, especially in western Canada and the western U.S.
Locations:Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Saguaro National Park, Tuzigoot National Monumentmore »
The American bullfrog is a great threat to aquatic ecosystems in the Southwest. They are voracious predators of aquatic animals and carry diseases that kill native species. We will implement three main actions in this project funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, Invasive Species Grant: bullfrog control, native species recovery and reintroduction, and development of early detection/rapid response protocols for bullfrogs.
The American Southwest, including the Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Network (CHDN), is well known for its abundance and diversity of reptiles. The area is less well known for its amphibians, but they are abundant in some habitats, particularly during favorable weather conditions.
The National Park Service's Sonoran Desert Network Inventory and Monitoring Program is monitoring several vital signs that will likely show the effects of climate change. This article offers a summary of the network’s local-scale findings to date, as well as some examples of how monitoring will detect future change.
Locations:Amistad National Recreation Area, Big Bend National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Fort Davis National Historic Site, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, White Sands National Park
In 2003 and 2004, the University of Arizona conducted an inventory of reptiles and amphibians (herpetofauna) in six National Park Service Chihuahuan Desert Network parks. Primary objectives of this inventory were to document reptile and amphibian species, map the distribution of all species found, and determine a rough relative abundance for each species.
The American Southwest is well known for its abundance and diversity of reptiles including the Gila monster (one of only two venomous lizards in the world), desert tortoise, whiptail lizard, coachwhip, and aquatic species like the narrow-headed gartersnake. The Southwest is less well known for its amphibian populations, but they are abundant in some habitats. Some unique species include the barking frog, casque-headed frog, Arizona toad, Sonoran desert toad, and Sonoran tiger salamander.
Guadalupe Mountains NP includes the highest point in Texas (8,749 ft.), reliable springs, sand dunes, and forests. This inventory focused primarily on McKittrick Canyon, a very diverse riparian area, and the Salt Basin Dunes area, characterized by creosote flats, gypsum and quartz dunes.
Surveys for amphibian and reptile species have been conducted in CHDN parks. In 2003 and 2004, the University of Arizona conducted an inventory of herpetofauna in the six parks of the CHDN– Amistad National Recreation Area, Big Bend National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Fort Davis National Historic Site, and White Sands National Monument.
Saguaro National Park was established to protect the saguaro cactus, but the park also provides habitat for many unique animals. The lowland leopard frog (Rana yavapaiensis) is a native frog that depends on unique desert waters. It has declined in the desert Southwest and is considered a species of special conservation concern.
A number of field guides and electronic resources are available for further information on the distributions and life histories of reptiles and amphibians found in the American Southwest.
