American bullfrog
Amazing fact
Male bullfrogs have a round eardrum on the side of the head that is larger than the eye.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Male bullfrogs have a round eardrum on the side of the head that is larger than the eye.
THE REAL WORLD
The real American bullfrog
- Scientific name
- Lithobates catesbeianus
- Japanese name
- ウシガエル
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Ranidae
- Genus
- Lithobates
It is originally a frog of North America. It was brought to Japan as food, and frogs that escaped now live wild all over the country.
Males call with a deep voice that sounds like a cow.
It sits and waits for a long time, then grabs passing prey with a quick flash of its tongue.
How the American bullfrog lives
They are active by day and night, especially when it is warm and moist. Bullfrog tadpoles feed mainly on aquatic plants. Bullfrogs sometimes eat other bullfrogs. In winter, they may bury themselves in mud and make a small cave.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Active
- By day and by night
- Range
- Nearctic region
Where the American bullfrog has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ウシガエル
- 简体中文
- 美洲牛蛙
- 繁體中文
- 美洲牛蛙
- 한국어
- 황소개구리
- Español
- Rana Toro
- Français
- Grenouille-taureau
- Deutsch
- Amerikanischer Ochsenfrosch
- Português (Brasil)
- Rã-touro
- Italiano
- Rana toro americana
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Katak Lembu Amerika
- Русский
- Лягушка-бык
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Lithobates catesbeianusChecked: 2026-11-03
- 鳥羽水族館 — ウシガエルChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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