What once was lost has now been found, thanks to the work of students and faculty in the Millsaps biology department in partnership with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.
The Jackson Prairie, a prairie grassland habitat, historically occurred in central Mississippi and stretched eastward toward Alabama. Over the last 200 years, much of the native Jackson Prairie has been converted to forests, pastures, and suburban/urban areas, and very little original prairie remains. One of the animals that historically occurred in this region was the Crawfish Frog (Rana areolata). Records of the species are known from Hinds and Madison counties, but the last confirmed Crawfish Frog in the region was documented in 1992 by Tom Mann from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. This species is described as the “least understood North American frog” due to its habits of occupying abandoned crawfish burrows for 10-11 months out of the year. They are rarely encountered outside of the very short breeding season, and a concentrated effort has never been made to determine their status in central Mississippi.
In 2022, Dr. Will Selman, professor of biology at Millsaps, and Dr. Nicole Hodges with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science received a State Wildlife Grant to determine the population status of Crawfish Frogs in the region. Part of the grant includes a class at Millsaps, taught by Selman, entitled “Finding the Forgotten Crawfish Frog,” in which students actively participate in the entire research process.
Research conducted by the class includes survey planning and design, data collection and entry, data analysis, literature review, and written report preparation. In January, students used Google Maps and Google Earth to pinpoint approximately 600 potential Crawfish Frog breeding locations in the Jackson Prairie region. Led by Selman, the class and several volunteers ventured to their locations to conduct auditory surveys. In the first three weeks of the class, they have already surveyed approximately 500 of their locations and recorded the Crawfish Frog’s distinctive snoring calls at 11 of these locations, all on private lands in Madison County. Of these locations, three appear to be relatively large breeding aggregations as judged by the intensity of their calls.
The successful research warranted praise from Crawfish Frog expert, Dr. Mike Lannoo of Indiana University. In communication with Selman, Lannoo wrote that the class’ structure “may be the template for future Crawfish Frog distribution studies.”
The course’s focus on the research process and hands-on field work is an exemplary model of Millsaps’ mission to provide its students with experiential learning opportunities and for students to gain tangible skills in their fields of study. A similar class and field study will be conducted by Selman in the spring 2024 semester, complete with a research publication co-authored with participating students.