Homing in Leopard Frogs, Rana Pipiens

A field study of the movements of displaced adult Rana pipiens was conducted in two summers in northern Michigan, using a thread trailing device to follow the animals. Animals displaced relatively short distances (to about 1 km) from their capture site generally oriented correctly in their homeward direction. No evidence of successful homeward orientation could be found in animals displaced greater distance. Blinded frogs displaced up to 800 m oriented and homed as successfully as normal animals displaced comparable distances, from both upwind and downwind of home. It is suggested that orientation is type I (Griffin 1952). Possible mechanisms serving to guide the homing movements of the frogs are discussed.