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Home/Species/ Squirrel Treefrog

Dryophytes squirellus

(Daudin, 1800)

Squirrel Treefrog

G5Secure Found in 4 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106239
Element CodeAAABC02120
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAmphibia
OrderAnura
FamilyHylidae
GenusDryophytes
Synonyms
Hyla squirellaBosc, 1800
Other Common Names
squirrel treefrog (EN)
Concept Reference
Frost, D. R. 1985. Amphibian species of the world. A taxonomic and geographical reference. Allen Press, Inc., and The Association of Systematics Collections, Lawrence, Kansas. v + 732 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
Duellman et al. (2016) restricted Hyla to Eurasia and North Africa and referred the North American and east Asian sister taxon of this group to Dryophytes. This taxonomy was accepted by Amphibian Species of the World and followed here. It is not followed by the Society for the Study of Amphibians And Reptiles (SSAR) with Crother (2017) stating, "acceptance of this taxonomy within the community is not clear at this point."

Faivovich et al. (2005) redelimited this monophyletic taxon to include only North American and Eurasian species. Hua et al. (2009) discussed relationships within the group. Fouquette and Dubois (2014) recognized a suite of subgenera based on genetic and morphological evidence, but pending a more thorough evidentiary review, Crother (2017) hesitates to employ this taxonomy. Li et al. (2015) suggested that this species is the sister taxon of all other North American Hyla + the Hyla japonica group.
Conservation Status
Review Date2002-04-01
Change Date1996-10-18
Edition Date2002-04-01
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Range Extent Comments
This species occurs in the Coastal Plain and Mississippi Valley of southeastern North America (southern Texas to southern Arkansas and southeastern Virginia) to Florida; introduced on Grand Bahama Island, Bahama Island (Frost 2020).
Occurrences Comments
Represented by many and/or large occurrences throughout most of the range.
Threat Impact Comments
No major pervasive threats.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

See Buchanan (Copeia 1994:797-802) for information on sexual dimorphism in color and pattern (labial/lateral stripe is larger in males than in females).

Habitat

Open woods, cities, and towns; thick low vegetation near water; wherever there is adequate moisture, hiding places, nearby standing water, and insect food. When inactive, hides under loose bark, palm leaves, in tree holes, in gardens, and in other protected sites. Nonbreeding "rain call" given by males from trees and bushes when rainfall is impending. Eggs and larvae develop in flooded roadside ditches, flatwoods ponds, swamps, and small, semipermanent stock-watering ponds. Males call from debris and twigs above water, on ground near water, or hidden in grass clumps adjacent to permanent or temporary rain pools of moderate depth (Schwartz and Henderson 1991).

Reproduction

Lays clutch of up to about 1000 eggs in spring or summer. Eggs hatch in several days. Aquatic larvae metamorphose into terrestrial form in about 6-7 weeks.
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedSavannaSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
TEMPORARY POOLHERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
VirginiaS4Yes
FloridaS5Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
TexasS5Yes
ArkansasS1Yes
LouisianaS5Yes
GeorgiaS5Yes
MississippiS5Yes
AlabamaS5Yes
South CarolinaS5Yes
North CarolinaS5Yes
Roadless Areas (4)
Alabama (1)
AreaForestAcres
Blue MountainTalladega National Forest4,986
Florida (2)
AreaForestAcres
Gum BayApalachicola National Forest11,645
Impassable BayOsceola National Forest2,789
North Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
Catfish Lake NorthCroatan National Forest11,299
References (18)
  1. Behler, J. L., and F. W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 719 pp.
  2. Blackburn, L., P. Nanjappa, and M. J. Lannoo. 2001. An Atlas of the Distribution of U.S. Amphibians. Copyright, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA.
  3. Conant, R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. xvii + 429 pp.
  4. Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
  5. Duellman, W. E., A. B. Marion, and S. B. Hedges. 2016. Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the treefrogs (Amphibia: Anura: Arboranae). Zootaxa 4104: 1–109.
  6. Faivovich, J., C.F.B. Haddad, P.C.A. Garcia, D.R. Frost, J.A. Campbell and W.C. Wheeler. 2005. Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with special reference to Hylinae: Phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 294:1-240.
  7. Fouquette Jr., M.J., and A. DuBois. 2014. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Seventh Edition. Volume 1—Amphibians. Xlibris LLC, Bloomington, Indiana. 586 pp.
  8. Frost, D. R. 1985. Amphibian species of the world. A taxonomic and geographical reference. Allen Press, Inc., and The Association of Systematics Collections, Lawrence, Kansas. v + 732 pp.
  9. Frost, D.R. 2020. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Online: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html
  10. Hedges, S.B. 1993. Global amphibian declines: a perspective from the Caribbean. Biodiversity and Conservation. 2:290-303.
  11. Hedges, S.B. 1999. Distribution of amphibians in the West Indies. Patterns of Distribution of Amphibians. A Global Perspective. Duellman, W.E.,editor. The Johns Hopkins Press. Baltimore, Maryland.
  12. Hedges, S.B. 2001. Caribherp: database of West Indian amphibians and reptiles (http://www.caribherp.net). Pennsylvania State University. University Park, PA.
  13. Hua, X., C.-z. Fu, J.-t. Li, A. Nieto-Montes de Oca, and J. J. Wiens. 2009. A revised phylogeny of Holarctic treefrogs (genus <i>Hyla</i>) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Herpetologica 65:246-259.
  14. Li, J.-t., J.-s. Wang, H.-h. Nian, S. N. Litvinchuk, J. Wang, Y. Li, D.-q. Rao, and S. Klaus. 2015. Amphibians crossing the Bering Land Bridge: Evidence from holarctic treefrogs (<i>Hyla</i>, Hylidae, <i>Anura</i>). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 87:80-90.
  15. Martof, B.S. 1975. Hyla squirella. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles. 168:1-2.
  16. Martof, B. S., W. M. Palmer, J. R. Bailey, and J. R. Harrison, III. 1980. Amphibians and reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 264 pp.
  17. Mount, R. H. 1975. The reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Alabama. vii + 347 pp.
  18. Schwartz, A., and R. W. Henderson. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida. xvi + 720 pp.