Common Mexican Tree Frog on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The common Mexican tree frog (''Smilisca baudinii'') is a
The common Mexican tree frog is generally brown-grey in color, with darker brown, irregular blotching. Its underside is typically a lighter grey or white. Its legs have distinctive dark banding.
Amphibian Species of the World: ''Smilisca baudinii''
nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
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 ...
of tree frog
A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely relat ...
whose native range extends from the Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...
and the Lower Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...
of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
south to Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. Common names include Mexican tree frog, Baudin's tree frog and Van Vliet's frog. They are usually found within lightly forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
ed areas near permanent sources of water.
Description
The common Mexican tree frog is generally brown-grey in color, with darker brown, irregular blotching. Its underside is typically a lighter grey or white. Its legs have distinctive dark banding.
Taxonomy
The species has numerous synonymous classifications due to disjunct populations, and was mistakenly redescribed on several occasions by field researchers.Conservation
The common Mexican tree frog is considered to be athreatened species
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...
in the US state of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. It has only been reported in a few counties, and no estimates of its actual population count have been made.
References
Amphibian Species of the World: ''Smilisca baudinii''
External links
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2710435 Smilisca Frogs of North America Amphibians of Mexico Amphibians of the United States Fauna of the Sonoran Desert Fauna of the Rio Grande valleys Amphibians described in 1841 Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron