[1] This secretive frog is on average 3 in (8 cm) long,[5] with a dark brown or black dorsal surface covered in warts.
[2] The Mississippi gopher frog was originally described as a new species (Rana sevosa) by Coleman J. Goin and M. Graham Netting in 1940.
The other population is less dense and spread out through the surrounding wetlands, recently found to concentrate around Mike's Pond, Jackson County, Mississippi.
Currently, the range of Lithobates sevosus is decreasing at a dramatic rate due to urban sprawl, deforestation, and even fire suppression that destroys the possibility of sunlight reaching down to the wetlands, critical for the growth of the frogs' immediate habitat.
The frog's back ranges in color from black to brown or gray and is covered with dark spots and warts.
[6] Other defense responses include inflating its body and excretion of a bitter, milky fluid from warty glands located on its back.
[6] The Mississippi gopher frog possesses several defense mechanisms in its immune system that are unique to Rana sevosa.
Rana sevosa reacts quickly to exterior pathogens, effectively limiting the extent of infections in the early hours after exposure.
Similar to other species of frogs and toads, Rana sevosa synthesizes antimicrobial peptides that act as effective defenses against outside pathogens.
Rana sevosa, similar to other species of frogs and toads, secrete antimicrobial peptides upon adrenergic stimulation, stress, and injury.
Breeding sites are isolated, grassy ponds that dry out completely at certain times of the year; their seasonal nature prevents establishment of a fish population, which would endanger tadpoles.
Substantial winter rains are needed to ensure the ponds are filled sufficiently to allow development of juvenile frogs.
Adult frogs move to breeding sites in association with heavy rains during winter and spring (December to April).
Adults face every-day threats from a wide assortment of possible predators, including birds, mammals, and reptiles.
Chytridiomycosis caused by chytrid fungus, an infectious disease of amphibians, has had a detrimental effect on Mississippi gopher frog populations.
The main threats posed by these projects are local changes in hydrology, the need for fire suppression, and habitat destruction and fragmentation.
Other concerns include possible sedimentation and run-off of toxic chemicals that may injure or kill tadpoles and adult frogs.
Other threats include fire suppression, drought, pesticides, urban sprawl, highway construction and the decline of gopher tortoises.
Another conservation effort for this frog would be to make sure the tadpoles are raised in a closed environment where they can develop fully and stay healthy.
[citation needed] A Gopher Frog Recovery Team oversees conservation strategies that include pond water supplementation in dry years, habitat management, assisting tadpole survival, captive rearing, construction of alternative-breeding ponds, and treating infected tadpoles.
Five zoos (New Orleans, Memphis, Detroit, Miami, and Omaha) have 75 Mississippi gopher frogs in captivity, and are conducting ongoing artificial breeding programs.
The Supreme Court's opinion is succinctly summarized with "Because it determined that the Service’s decisions not to exclude were committed to agency discretion and therefore unreviewable, the Court of Appeals did not consider whether the Service’s assessment of the costs and benefits of designation was flawed in a way that rendered the resulting decision not to exclude Unit 1 arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.