A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of

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 ...

that spends a major portion of its lifespan in

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely related to each other. Millions of years of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

have resulted in very similar

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

even in species that are not very closely related. Furthermore, tree frogs in seasonally arid environments have adapted an extra-epidermal layer of lipid and mucus as an evolutionary convergent response to accommodate the periodic dehydration stress.

Description

As the name implies, these frogs are typically found in trees or other high-growing vegetation. They do not normally descend to the ground, except to mate and

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: Ar ...

, though some build foam nests on leaves and rarely leave the trees at all as adults. Tree frogs are usually tiny as their weight has to be carried by the branches and twigs in their

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. While some reach 10 cm (4 in) or more, they are typically smaller and more slender than terrestrial frogs. Tree frogs typically have well-developed discs at the finger and toe tips; the fingers and toes themselves, as well as the limbs, tend to be rather small, resulting in a superior grasping ability. The genus ''

Chiromantis ''Chiromantis'' is a genus of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae, commonly known as foam-nest frogs or foam-nest tree frogs. It contains species from the Sub-Saharan African tropics. Following the molecular genetic study by Chen and colleagues (2 ...

'' of the

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly ...

is most extreme in this respect: it can oppose two fingers to the other two, resulting in a

vise A vise or vice (British English) is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever. A vise grip is no ...

-like grip.

Family

Tree frogs are members of these

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

or genera: * Hylidae, or "true" treefrogs, occur in the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

to tropical parts of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

north of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. *

, or shrub frogs, are the treefrogs of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

regions around the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

east to

Lydekker's line Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English natural history, naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard ...

. A few also occur in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

. * Centrolenidae, or glass frogs, are potentially closely related to hylids; these translucent frogs are native to Central and South America. * Hyperoliidae, or reed frogs, are closely related to the burrowing

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

; these small frogs are native to sub-Saharan Africa. * ''

Boophis ''Boophis'' is the only genus in the mantellid frog subfamily Boophinae. They are commonly known as bright-eyed or skeleton frogs. They show typical 'tree frog' traits, and are a good example of convergent evolution with morphologically simil ...

'' is a genus of highly arboreal frogs which evolved from the toxic terrestrial

Mantellidae The Mantellidae are a family of the order Anura. These frogs are endemic to the islands of Madagascar and Mayotte. Systematics The family Mantellidae is composed of three extremely ecologically diverse groups of frogs, divided into three sub ...

of Madagascar.

Gallery

File:Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor) (8716723960).jpg,

Gray tree frog The gray treefrog (''Dryophytes versicolor'') is a species of small arboreal holarctic tree frog native to much of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the eastern gray treefrog, northern gray tree ...

, ''Hyla versicolor'', Hylidae, eastern North America File:Hyla cinerea (American Green Tree Frog).jpg,

American green tree frog The American green tree frog (''Dryophytes cinereus'' or ''Hyla cinerea'') is a common arboreal species of New World tree frog belonging to the family Hylidae. This nocturnal insectivore is moderately sized and has a bright green to reddish-brow ...

, ''Dryophytes cinereus'' or ''Hyla cinerea,'' Hylidae, central and southeastern United States File:Polyp leucom M 050408 041 ipb.jpg, Common tree frog, ''Polypedates leucomystax'', Rhacophoridae, southern to eastern Asia File:Cochranella pulverata 02.jpg,

Powdered glass frog The powdered glass frog or Chiriqui glass frog (''Teratohyla pulverata'') is a frog species in the glass frog family (biology), family (Centrolenidae). The species is found from north-central Honduras south to northwestern Ecuador.Solís ''et al ...

, ''Cochranella pulverata'', Centrolenidae, Honduras to Ecuador File:Vermicamaennlateral.jpg,

Big-eyed tree frog ''Leptopelis vermiculatus'', also known as the peacock tree frog, Amani forest treefrog, or vermiculated tree frog, is a species of frog found in forest areas in Tanzania. Sometimes the common name big-eyed tree frog is used, but this may also r ...

, ''Leptopelis vermiculatus'', Hyperoliidae, Tanzania File:Boophis albilabris 01.jpg,

White-lipped bright-eyed frog The white-lipped bright-eyed frog (''Boophis albilabris'') is a species of frog in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane ...

, ''Boophis albilabris'', Mantellidae, Madagascar File:PedostibesTuberculosus3.jpg,

Malabar tree toad The Malabar tree toad (''Pedostibes tuberculosus''), or warty Asian tree toad, is a species of toad found in forests along the Western Ghats of great Karnataka or Deccan. It is a small species and is found in wet tree hollows or leaf bases con ...

, ''Pedostibes tuberculosus'', Hyperoliidae, India File:Tree frogs and rain 75 sec.wav, Sound of treefrogs in south Georgia, US (78 seconds)

References

Bibliography

External links

{{amphibian-stub 01 Frogs Amphibian common names