THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Anura    Leiopelmatidae  

Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog
Ascaphus montanus Mittleman and Myers, 1949

Current SSAR Comments:
Nielson et al. (2001, Evolution 55: 147–160) presented evidence supporting the recognition of this species distinct from A. truei and Nielson et al. (2006, Herpetologica 62: 235–258) reported on data from allozymes and mtDNA that perhaps two evolutionarily significant units are distributed, respectively; south of the South Fork of the Salmon River populations, and northwest of the Salmon River (including Blue, Wallowa and Seven Devils mountains).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.09.27.14.25.56)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.39 MB

Province/State Distribution:
Canada: British Columbia
USA: Idaho Montana Oregon Washington

First instance(s) of published English names:
American Bell Toad (Ascaphus truei: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); American Ribbed Toad (Ascaphus truei: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog (Ascaphus truei montanus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1932 Smith, Hobart M. Ascaphus truei Stejneger in Montana. Copeia 1932(2):100
1949 Mittleman, M. Budd and George S. Myers. Geographic variation in the ribbed frog, Ascaphus truei. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 62():57–68
1968 Metter, Dean E. Ascaphus and A. truei. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (69):1-2
1993 Jamieson, Barrie G. M., S. Y. Lee, and Kevin Long. Ultrastructure of the spermatozoon of the internally fertilizing frog Ascaphus truei (Ascaphidae: Anura: Amphibia) with phylogenetic considerations. Herpetologica 49(1):52-65
1999 Bury, R. Bruce, and Michael J. Adams. Variation in age at metamorphosis across a latitudinal gradient for the tailed frog, Ascaphus truei. Herpetologica 55(2):283-291
2001 Nielson, Marilyn, Kirk Lohman, and Jack Sullivan. Phylogeography of the Tailed Frog (Ascaphus truei): Implications for the biogeography of the Pacific Northwest. Evolution 55(1):147-160
2006 Nielson, Marilyn, Kirk Lohman, Charles H. Daugherty, Fred W. Allendorf, Kathy L. Knudsen, and Jack Sullivan. Allozyme and mitochondrial DNA variation in the Tailed Frog (Anura: Ascaphus): The influence of geography and gene flow. Herpetologica 62(3):235-258

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 24 March 2025 21:52 CT