Bufo cognatus (?) morphs

[SludgeMunkey]

So, walking home from work today, I found these four little guys in a tire rut in less than a liter of water...and like any good amphibian geek I had a small net, bottled spring water, containers and the Petersen Field Guide in my lunch box.
Anyway, I suspect these are Bufo cognatus tadpoles in the later stages of morphing.

As always, input on identification is welcome!





This one decided the close up macro picture was a good time to ...umm....defecate....

[Kerry1968]

So you keeping them Johnny?

[John]

99% certain that these are not Bufonid tadpoles, sorry.

[SludgeMunkey]

So you keeping them Johnny?

Given the nature of the laws in this state, I will have to. Which is not a bad thing...

99% certain that these are not Bufonid tadpoles, sorry.

I guess this will be a wait and see type project then. I spent a few hours scouring my books and the web, but I have no clue...LOL I am curious to see what they are!

[SludgeMunkey]

John called it.

Upon further research, and the froglets developing quickly, I have a batch of Blanchard's Cricket Frogs, Acris crepitans blanchardi...

We tend to get the rather boring, uniform brown color scheme around here.

I don't know how I feel about this yet.

On the other hand, being extremely new to this whole frog and toad thing, perhaps these little buggers will be good training species for me...

[John]

Cognatus metamorphose within 1 month of being laid, often much sooner. And they lay their eggs in places that are prone to drying earlier than that so they often lose the whole pool of tadpoles. They will probably breed again in Nebraska if you get rain soon though. Just find a breeding pond.