Sierran chorus frog | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Anura |
Family: | Hylidae |
Genus: | Pseudacris |
Species: | P. sierra |
Binomial name | |
Pseudacris sierra (Jameson, Mackey, and Richmond, 1966) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Hyla regilla sierraJameson, Mackey, and Richmond, 1966 Contents |
The Sierran chorus frog or Sierran treefrog (Pseudacris sierra) is native to the state of California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Montana. [2] [3] It has a range from the West Coast of the United States from Central California inland through Idaho. They can live at sea level, but also up to more than 10,000 feet utilizing trees, ponds, grasslands, farmlands, meadows, and lakes as habitats. [4] [3] These frogs, alike other, reproduce in aquatic settings. [2] They occur in shades of greens or browns and can change colors over periods of hours and weeks. These colors help them easily blend into the background and hard for the eye to catch. [2]
The naming of this frog has a very confusing history. These frogs have long been known as Pacific chorus frogs Pseudacris regilla . Then, in 2006, Recuero et al. split that taxonomic concept into three species. [5] Recuero et al. attached the name Pseudacris regilla with the northern piece, renaming the central piece the Sierran tree frog (Pseudacris sierra) and the southern piece the Baja California tree frog ( Pseudacris hypochondriaca ). Because the paper provided no maps or discussion of how to diagnose the species, it has been an extremely controversial taxonomic revision, [6] but has been incorporated into Amphibian Species of the World 6.0 (as Pseudacris sierra). [1] The taxonomic confusion introduced by this name change means that much of the information about Pseudacris sierra is attached to the name Pseudacris regilla .
This frog is brown, green, or grey in color with gold and silver colors and black and brown stripes. [4] Its eyes stick outwards from the sides of its head. [2] Unlike most frogs the Sierran has little to no webbing in its feet regardless of the same long toes. Each Female frog can lay up to 750 eggs. [2] Each frog produces a "call" that they use to communicate with one another. Like human voices, these calls all have a different pitch to distinguish one from another. [4]
The Sierran treefrog inhabits forests along the western United States. [2] Like other creatures, these frogs hibernate in the winter, usually underground but sometimes in other water-resistant locations, like logs or other forms of wood. [2] Almost immediately after winter, these frogs leave their usual habitats for calm freshwater where they can lay their eggs without having to worry about fishes disturbing them before disappearing back into the background of the forest. They can also be found in wetland areas too. [2]
The ornate chorus frog is a species of chorus frog endemic to the Southeastern United States. Their distribution ranges from North Carolina, east to the very eastern part of Louisiana, and south to northern parts of Florida.
The spring peeper is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern United States and Canada. They prefer permanent ponds due to their advantage in avoiding predation; however, they are very adaptable with respect to the habitat they can live in. In northern regions, the frog is able to endure below freezing temperatures due to the capacity of their livers to exude and flush the bloodstream with a glucose cryoprotectant which acts both as an anti-freeze in their blood, and allows organs like the heart to enter into a state of protected dormancy. They are so called because of their chirping call that marks the beginning of spring. Crucifer is derived from the Latin root meaning "cross-bearing". This could be a reference to the cross-like pattern on the spring peeper's dorsal side.
Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic.
The California tree frog or California chorus frog is a "true" tree frog from southern California (USA) and Baja California (Mexico). Until recently, the California tree frog was classified in the genus Hyla.
The Pacific tree frog, also known as the Pacific chorus frog, has a range spanning the Pacific Northwest, from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington to British Columbia in Canada and extreme southern Alaska. They live from sea level to more than 10,000 feet in many types of habitats, reproducing in aquatic settings. They occur in shades of greens or browns and can change colors over periods of hours and weeks.
The boreal chorus frog is a species of chorus frog native to Canada from central Quebec to eastern British Columbia and north to the Northwest Territories and the southern portion of the Yukon. It occurs in the USA throughout Montana, northwestern Wisconsin, northeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, and southwestern Utah.
The western chorus frog, also known as striped chorus frog, or midland chorus frog is a species of frog found in Canada and the United States.
The upland chorus frog is a species of chorus frog found in the United States. It was recently separated from the Western chorus frog, being identified as an individual species rather than a subspecies. They are a rarely seen species, but their calls are frequently heard soon after rains in the spring time.
Dryophytes gratiosus, commonly known as the barking tree frog, is a species of tree frog endemic to the south-eastern United States.
The Appalachianmountain chorus frog, formerly known as just the mountain chorus frog, is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. The species is endemic to the United States. The natural habitats of P. brachyphona are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, ponds, open excavations, and canals and ditches. It is threatened by habitat loss.
There are 14 species of amphibians and 5 species of reptiles known to occur in Mount Rainier National Park.
Pseudacris kalmi, the New Jersey chorus frog, is a species of frog in the treefrog family Hylidae. It is found in the states near New Jersey in the United States. It was first described as subspecies of Pseudacris triseriata but it is differentiated by range and size. This frog's color ranges from grey to tan or greenish brown with a dark stripe on both sides of the body that extends from the snout, through their eyes, and to the groin. It breeds in early spring from February to April. It broods in shallow bodies of water, especially vernal pools, which dry up later in the season.
The Baja California chorus frog is a cathemeral species of treefrog of Western North America. It was formerly considered as a population of the Pacific chorus frog, but was split and raised to species status in 2006. The species ranges from the West Coast of the United States from Baja California through southern California. Individuals live from sea level to more than 10,000 feet in many types of habitats, reproducing in aquatic settings.
Acrisinae is a subfamily of the tree frog family Hylidae. There are only two genera in this subfamily, Acris and Pseudacris. They are native to most of the Nearctic realm, and are found as far north as the Great Slave Lake in Canada, all across the United States, and down Baja California and some parts of northern Mexico. One species, the pacific tree frog, has been introduced to several locations outside its range, and it is possible that other species may have been as well.