Amphibians

Tiger salamander

NPS Photo/Neal Herbert

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is known for its shoreline habitat, where water and land meet, making it a thriving home for amphibians. Frogs, toads, and salamanders can all be found in the park. Amphibians depend on water to lay their eggs, but may prefer water or land as an adult, depending on the species. Eggs ultimately hatch into larva, which eventually develop into adults. This process of developing limbs to walk and lungs to breathe outside of the water is known as metamorphosis.

 

 

Frogs and Toads

 

Pacific tree frog

NPS Photo

Pacific Tree Frog

Pseudacris regilla

• Bodies are flat and no longer than 2 inches long; generally green or brown and has a long dark marking from nose past the eye

• Eggs are laid in a packet which then attaches to a brace (part of a plant), with up to 70 eggs inside

• Prefers water that is slow moving; tadpoles must complete metamorphosis before small water pools dry up

• Adults prefer to live on land, but need moisture nearby

 

Western toad

NPS Photo

Western Toad

Anaxyrus boreas

• Medium to large size (2 to 5 inches) with brown, green, or gray coloration and black warts

• Tadpoles look black in the water, grow to about 2 inches long

• Females can lay between 6,000 and 20,000 eggs at a time

• Surviving tadpoles take about two months to metamorphosize

• Prefers forest and grassland habitats, but breed in still water along the lake edge

 

Bullfrog

NPS Photo

Bullfrog

Rana catesbeiana

• Easily identified by a skin fold that stretches from the eye to shoulder

• Grow up to 4.5 inches long and are generally brown or olive with black speckles; some adults have a green accent on their jaw

• Considered the largest frog in North America; labeled as non-native in Washington as they are native to the eastern United States

• One large casing can hold up to 6,000 eggs at a time, which hatch into tadpoles in mass amounts

 

Great Basin Spadefoot

© William Flaxington

Great Basin Spadefoot

Spea intermontana

• Smaller toad with a stout nose, short legs, warts over its body, and a vertical diamond shaped pupil

• Named for the black spade-like wedge that is on each of their back feet

• Individual eggs are attached to each other, in sets of 10 to 40, and can be laid on the ground or attached to a plant underwater

• Prefers shrubsteppe habitat; only return to water for breeding

• Nocturnal and tends to be seen more often when it rains

 

Salamanders

 

Long-toed salamander

NPS Photo/S. Anderson

Long-toed Salamander

Ambystoma macrodactylum

• Commonly found in Washington

• Gray or black in color with one long dorsal stripe, usually yellow or green

• Hatch with balancers, or appendages on either side of their head, which help them sense their surroundings before they are full grown

• Adaptable to a variety of habitats and small pools of water without fish

• Often found under logs and loose bark where they can find moisture

 

Tiger salamander

NPS Photo

Tiger Salamander

Ambystoma tigrinum

• Rare to see and has been in decline due to water being channeled into agriculture in surrounding counties to the lake

• Rounded nose, big eyes, and yellow blotches all over their bodies

• Does not have balancers upon hatching, which can help separate them from long-toed salamanders

• Prefer habitat that is dry (shrubsteppe) but can also live in forested areas in the northern range of the lake

• Known to live up to 25 years in captivity, 14 years in the wild