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The Plains Leopard Frog was described as a distinct species in 1973 by Lauren Brown who first heard it call "a quarter mile from our home just north of Bloomington-Normal [Mclean County, IL]. He named the frog after his major professor at the University of Texas- Frank Blair. We have that exact photo right inside the front door back home! Kara Anne Nash (Brown)"
Besides the call, comparing members of this species to other Midwestern frogs shows they are stockier, with a shorter head and a
light line running along their upper jaw. In addition, the dorsolateral folds are broken towards the hips, with the posterior lines being inset towards the center of the back. The body color is usually brownish. Individuals can be from 2 to 3.75 inches long (5.1 to 9.5 cm) although one was about 4 and a half inches (11.1 cm). They call "chuck-chuck" and "chuck-chuck- chuck" after warm summer rains. Plains Leopard Frogs are typical inhabitants of the great plains in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and former prairie areas of central Illinois. They are known only from Kankakee, Grundy and Will Counties in the Chicago Region.
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