Ornate chorus frog

For microhylid frog found in East and Southeast Asia, see Ornate chorus frog (Asia).

Ornate chorus frog
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Hylidae
Genus:	Pseudacris
Species:	P. ornata
Binomial name
Pseudacris ornata (Holbrook, 1836)
Synonyms
Rana ornata Holbrook, 1836 Cystignathus ornatus — Holbrook, 1842 Chorophilus ornatus — LeConte, 1855 Pseudacris ornata — Stejneger & Barbour, 1917

The ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata) 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 (Castellon et al., 2014).

Description

It is 25–38 mm (1–1.5 in) in head-body length. Its color varies depending on locale: some are green, others red or brown. It typically has a defined but broken stripe or spots leading from the nose down the side. The frog’s upper lip is marked with a clear light colored line and many individuals have a faded triangle marking on the very top of the head (Mount, 1975). It has a pure white belly, and usually has yellow spots located in front of the hind legs.

Habitat

Most commonly found in the Southern coastal plain. The ornate chorus frog is typically found in xeric habitats, including pine stands, sandhills, and pine savannahs. Woodland ponds, flooded fields, and roadside ditches can serve as breeding habitat, although ponds found within sandhills, and pine forests or plantations observe the most breeding. A site with an open canopy and herbaceous vegetation is also common for breeding. These frogs require seasonally flooded wetlands without fish for a three to four month period for tadpoles to develop completely (Goff et al., 2020).

Behavior

These chorus frogs are nocturnal and are rarely seen, except during mating season. They become more active as the temperature begins to decrease and begin migrating toward water for the mating season. Most observations of this frog are on winter nights during or after rain. Because of this, little is known about the adult ornate chorus frog. They spend the remainder of the spring and summer waiting out the warm temperatures in burrows, under logs, or buried under sandy soil (Caldwell, 1987).

Reproduction

Ornate chorus frogs reach sexual maturity around 1 year and reproduce through external fertilization. The female releases eggs at the same time that the male releases sperm and to ensure that the eggs are fertilized, they will sit in an axillary amplexus position. Eggs are laid in clusters ranging from 10 to 100 eggs attached to submerged vegetation. The eggs are abandoned after and neither parent provides any type of parental care to the eggs or hatched tadpoles. The eggs hatch between 1 and 2 weeks but hatch time is temperature dependent; colder temperatures indicate a longer period before hatching (Mount 1975).

Taxonomy

The ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata) was named and classified by American herpetologist John Edwards Holbrook in 1836.

Etymology

The name of the genus, Pseudacris, comes from the Greek pseudes (false) and akris (locust), probably a reference to the repeated rasping trill of most chorus frogs, which is similar to that of the insect. The specific name, ornata, is the feminine form of the Latin adjective, ornatus (decorated).