Appalachian Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles

Adults are 37 to 83 mm in length, and females are larger. Prominent dorsolateral folds extend from the bead to near the vent. The lateral edge of each fold is darker than the medial edge. The smooth to moderately rough back often has short folds between the dorsolateral folds. Toes are webbed, with tow or three phalanges of the fourth toe free of the web. Dorsal coloring may be gray to tan to vivid reddish brown , and is coppery or golden in some individuals. Females are usually more reddish. Black or dark brown markings may be present on the back and sides, and many northern and western specimens have a middorsal white line. A conspicuous dark brown or blackish mask extends from the snout to just behind the tympanum. The white venter is sometimes darkly mottled on the throat and breast, and is smooth except for a granular region under the thighs. There also is a prominint dark marking in the pectoral region. The tympanum is smaller than the eye. Males have paired vocal sacs, stout forelegs, and a “thumb” and enlarged webbing between the toes during the breeding season.

R. sylvatica is the only cold-blooded tetrapod known to occur north of the Artic Circle in the Western Hemisphere. It is found over most of Alaska and Canada and over the northeastern part of the United States. Its northern limit lies along the treeline from Alaska to Labrador. Its range extends southward coastally to Maryland and in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and northeastern Tennessee. The southern edge of the range passes northward through southern Illinois and the norteastern corner of South Dakota, the noreastern half of North Dakota, northern Idoah and westward in Canada to near the Pacific coast. Isolated populations are found in souteastern Wyoming and northern Colorado, in eastern Kansas, in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri, and perhaps in areas north of the Artic tree line.

It is a terrestrial species, often found in or near moist wooded areas, sometimes considerable distances from open water.