The northern red-legged frog, or rana aurora, is found along the western coast from british columbia to northern california. their typical breeding season lasts from january to march. the foothill yellow-legged frog, or rana boylii, is found along the western coast from northern oregon to central california. their typical breeding season lasts from april to july. what mechanism might keep rana aurora and rana boylii from mating?

The answer is temporal isolation.

Temporal isolation is a type of reproductive isolation, which could be prezygotic or postzygotic. Temporal isolation is prezygotic reproductive isolation since it occurs before fertilization and zygote production. Temporal isolation is result of temporal differences in breeding. In this example, the breeding season of Rana aurora lasts from January to March while the breeding season of Rana boylii lasts from April to July. So, these two breeding seasons do not coincide and these species could not mate.