The Collinses' mountain chorus frog (''Pseudacris collinsorum'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Hylidae 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. Taxonomy and s ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to hilly regions of the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

Taxonomy

Formerly considered a population of the Appalachian mountain chorus frog (''P. brachyphona''), a study published in 2020 found significant genetic divergence from ''P. brachyphona'' and thus described it as a distinct species, ''P. collinsorum''. It was named in honor of

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

Joseph T. Collins Joseph Thomas Collins, Jr. (July 3, 1939, Crooksville, Ohio – January 14, 2012) was an American herpetologist. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Collins authored 27 books and over 300 articles on wildlife, of which about 250 were on amph ...

and his wife,

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Suzanne L. Collins. Prior to his passing, Joseph Collins had contributed many specimens to be used in the study.

Distribution

This species ranges from southwestern

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

/southeastern

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, south through northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

to most of

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aside from the north (which is occupied by ''brachyphona''), and west to northeastern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. It inhabits elevations of between

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Habitat

This species inhabits drier and/or more

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

-dominated areas than ''P. brachyphona'', which in contrast largely inhabits mesic habitats.

Description

This species is more variable in appearance than ''brachyphona''; although it sometimes displays the same dorsal pattern seen in ''brachyphona'', this pattern can sometimes be broken, or even be lacked altogether on ''collinsorum''. In addition, its call displays a faster pulse rate than that of ''brachyphona''.

References

Chorus frogs Amphibians of the United States Endemic fauna of the United States Amphibians described in 2020 {{Hylidae-stub