. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 110 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 28, Art. Young specimens are slightly shorter legged, larger headed, and less brightly col- ored than adults. In Illinois the most noticeable trends in geographic variation are the proportion- ately greater head size and longer legs in samples from north to south. The limited data at hand thus conform in general with the findings of Schmidt (1938^) that there is a north-south cline in leg length in the wood frog. Although north-south clines are evident in the Illinois wood frogs, the data do not pre
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 110 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 28, Art. Young specimens are slightly shorter legged, larger headed, and less brightly col- ored than adults. In Illinois the most noticeable trends in geographic variation are the proportion- ately greater head size and longer legs in samples from north to south. The limited data at hand thus conform in general with the findings of Schmidt (1938^) that there is a north-south cline in leg length in the wood frog. Although north-south clines are evident in the Illinois wood frogs, the data do not preclude the possibility that a north- ern and southern race are involved. Suzuki ( 1951) did not find a regular cline in tibial length in Wisconsin samples, and specimens at hand from Arkansas are no longer legged than specimens from southwestern Illinois. The population in northeastern Illinois is regarded as being composed of R. s. syl- vatica X cantabrigensis intergrades. The sample from this part of Illinois displays cantabrigensis characters in proportionate head length, tibial length, size, and ventral pattern but sylvatica characters in dorsal pattern and dorsal skin texture. This varia- tion is summarized in table 29. Habits.âThe wood frog, which is usually solitary in habits, is restricted to relatively mesic forests in which there are permanent or semipermanent pools. It is usually not abundant even in optimum habitat and is often overlooked because its colors blend so well with fallen leaves. Individuals are most often seen when they call attention to them- selves by making a long, low leap. In spring and fall the wood frog may be aquatic, but it spends most of the summer well away from water. Its food consists of arthropods and mollusks. The short breeding season of the wood frog occurs in March. A pond may be sud- denly full of breeding individuals and a week or two later they may have completely disappeared. The call of the male consists of a series of five or six
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