Cope's gray tree frog

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Cope's gray tree frog
Copes gray tree frog (Dryophytes chrysoscelis)

Copes gray tree frog ( Dryophytes chrysoscelis )

Systematics
Subordination : Neobatrachia
without rank: Tree frogs (arboranae)
Family : Tree frogs i. w. S. (Hylidae)
Subfamily : Hylinae
Genre : Dryophytes
Type : Cope's gray tree frog
Scientific name
Dryophytes chrysoscelis
( Cope , 1880)

Cope's gray tree frog ( Dryophytes chrysoscelis , synonym : Hyla chrysoscelis ) is a species from the genus Dryophytes in the family of tree frogs iwS (Hylidae) that occurs in the USA and Canada .

Dryophytes chrysoscelis is closely related to Dryophytes versicolor , the eastern gray tree frog .

Appearance

Cope's gray tree frog usually measures 3.2 to 5.1 centimeters and can reach a head-to-trunk length of up to 6 centimeters . It shows a color which varies from speckled gray to gray-green. Often the back shows black spots. The greenish colors appear mainly in the breeding season and in young frogs. There is usually a white spot below the eye. The underside of the hind legs can be orange or golden yellow with black speckles. The belly is white.

Gender dimorphism

Outwardly, there is almost no gender dimorphism . In the mating season, the sexes of the frog differ only slightly: males have black or gray necks, those of females are lighter.

Similar species

The range of Cope's gray tree frog largely overlaps with that of its close relative, the eastern gray tree frog ( Dryophytes versicolor ). It differs from this by the bright orange spots on the underside of the hind legs. These become visible when the animal leaps and are eponymous for the biological name. Another distinguishing feature is the higher pitch of the frog's calls and their faster succession. In addition, the two types differ in the number of chromosomes. Dryophytes versicolor has a tetraploid chromosome set with 48 chromosomes, Dryophytes chrysoscelis is diploid with 24 chromosomes. It also comes sometimes to the intersection of the two species, hybrids but can not reproduce normally.

distribution

Cope's gray tree frog is found in the eastern and southeastern United States and north to Canada ( Manitoba ). West of the Great Lakes , it is distributed in eastern North Dakota , central and eastern South Dakota , northern and central Nebraska , in Minnesota , Wisconsin , Missouri and eastern Kansas to central and southern Texas . In the east it occurs from Michigan , Illinois , Ohio , Pennsylvania and Maryland south to Florida . West of Florida, the range includes all states up to Texas.

Way of life

Cope's gray tree frog prefers forest areas to the edges, but also moves to more open landscapes in search of a suitable spawning place, for example in patches of forest around a body of water on the prairie . You can usually find it no further than a few hundred meters from a body of water. Temporary or permanent bodies of water are suitable for the brood, such as large rain puddles, ditches, oxbow lakes, streams and ponds. The banks are mostly densely overgrown and offer the frogs shelter and food. They overwinter in knotholes, under the bark of trees, in the leaves or under roots. They also tolerate periods of drought and temperatures of down to –8 ° C.

food

The frogs feed on insects that they find on the ground and in the vegetation. If Cope's gray tree frog ( Dryophytes chrysoscelis ) occurs sympathetically with the eastern gray tree frog ( Dryophytes versicolor ), it turns out that Cope's gray tree frog is more likely to eat insects from trees and bushes, while the gray tree frog feeds on insects on the ground . The tadpoles eat algae, plant remains and detritus in the water .

Reproduction

The male specimens of the species call out in warm weather in the months from May to August mostly from branches, but also from the bank vegetation or the ground at the water's edge, about a week before they visit the breeding waters. In some cases they come together in groups (choirs), but mostly at night. The spawn is laid in bundles of 20 to 40 eggs in shallow water, which is normally not home to fish. The tadpoles hatch after about 5 days and develop into fully formed animals in about 45 to 65 days.

Hazard and protection

Cope's gray tree frog is found in the eastern United States as far as Canada and can withstand dry periods and temperatures as low as –8 ° C. They prefer forest areas but also move to more open landscapes in search of a suitable spawning site. According to the IUCN Red List, the amphibian population is not endangered ( least concern ).

Systematics and taxonomy

Cope's gray tree frog is named after its first describer Edward Drinker Cope named the him in 1880 under the name of Hyla femoralis chrysoscelis in his description of the fauna of Texas On the zoological position of Texas reported. In 1910 the frog was placed under the scientific name Hyla versicolor chrysoscelis as a subspecies to the species of the Eastern gray tree frog. It was not until 1966 that the subspecies was spun off as a separate species. It is assumed that the two frog species developed apart in the Pleistocene , namely the tetraploid form Dryophytes versicolor from the diploid form Dryophytes chrysoscelis .

Until 2016, Cope's gray tree frog was known under the scientific name Hyla chrysoscelis , but the North American Hyla species, along with some East Asian species, were separated from the genus Hyla and merged into the genus Dryophytes .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ L. Mueller: Hyla chrysoscelis . Animal Diversity Web, 2006, accessed May 23, 2020.
  2. ↑ George R. Cline: Hyla chrysoscelis . Art portrait from Amphibiaweb, University of California, Berkeley 2020, accessed on May 23, 2020.
  3. ^ HC Gerhardt, MB Ptacek, L. Barnett & KG Torke: Hybridization in the diploid-tetraploid treefrogs Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor. Copeia 1994 pp. 51-59, 1994.
  4. ↑ Darrel R. Frost: Dryophytes chrysoscelis Cope 1880 . Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference, Version 6.1, American Museum of Natural History, New York 1998-2020, accessed May 22, 2020.
  5. ↑ L. Blackburn, P. Nanjappa & MJ Lannoo: An Atlas of the Distribution of US Amphibians. Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA 2001.
  6. ↑ a b Dryophytes chrysoscelis . Nature Serve, accessed May 23, 2020
  7. ↑ Dennis B. Ralin: Ecological and Reproductive Differentiation in the Cryptic Species of the Hyla versicolor Complex (Hylidae) . The Southwestern Naturalist, 13, 3, pp. 283-299, December 1968
  8. ↑ Dryophytes chrysoscelis in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Listed by: IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, 2017. Accessed May 22, 2020. (English)
  9. ^ Edward Drinker Cope : On the zoological position of Texas. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 17, pp. 1-51, 1880.
  10. ^ JK Strecker: Description of a new solitary spadefoot (Scaphiopus hurterii) from Texas, with other herpetological novelties. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 23, pp. 115-122, 1910.
  11. ^ C. Johnson: Species recognition in the Hyla versicolor complex. Texas Journal of Science, 18, pp. 361-364, 1966.
  12. ^ J. Harding: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1997.
  13. ^ William E. Duellman, Angela B. Marion & S. Blair Hedges: Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the treefrogs (Amphibia: Anura: Arboranae). Zootaxa, 4101, 1, pp. 1–109, April 2016 doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.4104.1.1

literature

  • Edward Drinker Cope : On the zoological position of Texas. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 17, pp. 1–51, 1880. (first description)
  • Michael Lannoo (Ed.): Amphibian Declines. The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, 2005, pp. 449-452.

Web links

Commons : Cope's Gray Tree Frog  - Collection of images, videos and audio files