#American green treefrog

[fresh-frogs]

With my new camera and macro lens, my frog photos are fresher than ever before! My first subjects were these American green tree frogs :3

[bestfrogbracket]

American Green Tree Frog: Naturally found in the Southeastern United States, they prefer swamps and densely foliaged lakesides as habitats. Certain coastal populations, however, have developed a tolerance to moderate salinity in water thanks to different processes that regulate osmosis. Males form large choruses during mating season, and as a result are forced to modify their calls in frequency and duration to stand out from the others and draw attention from females. In some areas, they even compete with other species such as the invasive Osteopilus septentrionalis and modify their call to be more clearly heard. Females prefer lower-frequency calls, so if a male notices that his is distinctly higher-frequency than others in the area, he may forego calling altogether and attempt to ambush a female instead.

Purple Harlequin Toad: Native to French Guiana, it was found to likely belong to the Guiana Shield clade of harlequin toads through genetic testing done in 2020. Different populations separated by location vary significantly in size, with females from the Sophie region being smaller than males – contrary to all other populations of this species. Unfortunately, they are threatened by local logging and the chytrid fungus.

[typhlonectes]

IT WAS LATE ON JULY 16, 1957, and Charles M. Bogert was in a recording booth in Highland County, Florida, with a pair of singers who wouldn’t sing. The burgeoning producer, who had left a busy life in New York to chase talent in the Sunshine State, had heard the two perform live that very evening, in a chorus of hundreds. He had plucked them from the crowd, and thenushered them out of the swampy night and into this soundproofed room. But his would-be stars—out of their element, lacking inspiration—were silent. So Bogert took out a pair of headphones and played them a recording of their own voices from earlier, amid the chorus. Instantly they began an unrestrained duet: BOOP! BOOP! BOOP — WAMP — BOOP — WAMP — BOOP — WAMP! The booper here is a barking treefrog (Hyla gratiosa), while the wamper is a hybrid frog, thought to be the offspring of a barking and a green treefrog (Hyla cinerea). Theirs is a standout performance on Sounds of North American Frogs, originally released on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in 1958, and re-released at the end of 2023 by the same label...

[aquariuminfobureau]

It's a received wisdom that amphibians are intolerant of salinity in their water. With the usual caveat that Rana (or Fejervarya) cancrivora, a superficially ordinary Rana-like frog from Asia, is 'the only marine amphibian' and is presented as almost a miracle of nature. In fact, prehistoric amphibians were preserved in saltwater environments, and a few species of salamanders and frogs are tolerant of mildly brackish conditions.

One study investigated the salinity tolerances of tadpoles, belonging to a few species of North American frogs. All of the species investigated had near-perfect rates of survival at 5 parts per thousand of salinity. Where estuaries are of such a low salinity, it is clearly the freshwater components of estuarine biota that predominate. Nonetheless the salinity is elevated sufficiently at only 5 ppt, to qualify such water as brackish. The tadpoles of all the species suffered and died at higher percentages of salinity.

Thus it can only be remarkable when amphibians survive, and thrive, at higher salinities than 5 ppt. A large meta-analysis of amphibian salt tolerance, revealed that the majority of amphibian occurrences in brackish environments, predictably involved low salinities of about 5 ppt or below. Of the others, most involve salinities up to about 10 ppt. For contrast, seawater has a salinity of 33-38 ppt, and is usually communicated as 35 ppt, as though it were the same everywhere.

A salinity of 10 ppt is still at the low end of brackish salinities, below a specific gravity reading of 1.01. Therefore it is below the salinity expected to be maintained I a standard mangrove tank. A salinity of merely 5 ppt, is below 1.004. The mangrove associated R. cancrivora, is however able to complete it's life cycle, where the specific gravity would be 1.02.

It is also more significant when aquatic life stages are tolerant of saltwater, because amphibious, terrestrially motile animals may move to find freshwater. A number of species of amphibian adults, such as toads and mole salamanders, have been recorded in the field, in and around waters more saline than their proven or probable physiological tolerance.

Rana cancrivora are observed in the field to be at least temporarily present in waters with full marine salinity. Tadpoles of this species tolerate this, but the adults seem to have an upper limit of tolerance that is lower than their tadpole stages, at 28 ppt. Other amphibians with a fairly good physiological tolerance of salinity, seem limited to water where it is no more brackish, than 10 ppt or close readings.

These include the American bullfrog (Rana catesbiana), green treefrog (Hyla cinerea), Cuban treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis), yellow-bellied toads (Bombina variegata), common platanna (Xenopus laevis), and tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). Few amphibians tolerate higher than 10 ppt.

Adult cane toads (Rhinella marinus) live around waters with a salinity close to 15 ppt, although its life cycle is known to be impaired at salinities as low as 8 ppt, and 12 ppt is lethal to their tadpoles. Thus R. marinus, although they forage in coastal areas where the salinity is higher, are really among those amphibians bound to lower salinities of around 5 ppt or lower.

Which is to say, the aquatic life stages of an amphibian with amphibious or terrestrial adults, may be essentially a freshwater element that is present in certain estuarine environments. Some snakes and turtles similarly frequent mangroves and saltmarsh habitats, but require environmental freshwater, for example, moving to freshwater in order to drink, but feeding in brackish water.

This is the hybridity of the estuarine biota, with its marine and freshwater components, and also the bivalence of most amphibian life cycles, being able to breed in one environment, even microenvironment, whilst exploiting elsewhere. Typical amphibian life cycles are not inferior to those of reptiles and mammals, or the amphibians would not be so ubiquitous.

Which does in fact raise the question, of why there aren't any truly marine frog species. R. cancrivora and at least two other ranids, demonstrate that amphibians can actually evolve physiological tolerance to elevated natural salinities. Although this seems more common in some clades than in others. Asking the question is like asking why certain successful fish clades have remained essentially freshwater animals, such as cyprinids, loaches, tetras, and for the most part, catfishes.

Surely more than one factor is responsible, and possible explanations won't be mutually exclusive, when it comes to explaining why or why not. But competitive exclusion by clades that are established and dominant in saltwater environments, is a limit upon the range of niches, that are available for colonization, by intrusive pioneers moving down from upriver.

Adult frogs do not do very well in fast flowing waters, so they are unlikely to do very well where the tide is powerful. Some anurans have specialized tadpoles, bearing derived lifestyles and morphologies, that are appropriate to habitats such as fast flowing streams. But in such environments, fish competitors are relatively few. In the sea, frog tadpoles without mobile, paired hydrofoils, would need to compete against fishes with them, and other successful competitors.

[thelien-art]

First i must apologize I have a tendency to forget that tumblr - even when we're all 'on' - is not live interaction and additionally you can't actually read my mind 😅

This was in reaction to seeing your ... delightful?? .. new frog. In such a state. And I got nervous 😋🦀💖

Annon... I´m gonna cry... I love you♡♡♡ you´re making me do happy jumps♡

And I understand fully what you mean about "reading minds" if you can call it that, we´re all there at times!

I hope this is you trying to get me to talk about my wonderful frog Kaj because that´s what I´m gonna do know XD

-

This is Kaj - named after my second favorite show as a child - he´s 25 cm long, and he´s a treefrog, there didn´t stand which one but my best guess is a red eyed tree frog, he just doesn't have the blue stripes, he could also be a Agalychnis moreletii (Morelet's tree frog) but he doesn't have black eyes and Morelet´s are known for their black eyes (a nickname of theirs is black eyed frog).

He could also be an American green tree frog, but his feet are a bit too pigmented, and back a bit to light for that, although the eyes would match there.

Actually he´s a woman as he has an ovary and oviduct (the blue stuff you can see below his urostyle) but I didn´t know that until I unpacked him, where I already had named him

Going with the idea he´s a Morelet (as that´s what he looks most like) he would be around 60mm (f-54 m-60/64)

Red eyed tree frog gets around 6/7 cm (f-7,5 m-5)

All in conclusion he´s a tree frog. Which kind of one? Karl.

And no, the crabs need not fear, he´s much too small to be of any danger in the wild, and my Kaj is made of plastic so he doesn't really jump or eat, unfortunately.

Although some crabs might want to watch out for the Goliath frog... (world's biggest frog at around 32 cm and 3.3 kilograms)

[bite-sizedttrpg]

Bite-Sized! Monday Update 1

I have found all beasts that will fill the bestiary for the game.

Lizards in this world are called Drakes and there are quite a few to find, such as:

Broad-Headed Skinks

Coal Skinks

Common Five-Lined Skinks

Eastern Glass Lizards

Little Brown Skinks

Six-Lined Racerunner

Slender Glass Lizard

There is a single feline beast available to fight which is a bobcat.

Fish are another section in the bestiary. Consisting of:

Black Crappies

Bluegills

Bowfins

Common Carp

Red Swamp Crayfish

Warmouths

Different birds, which are referred to as Raptors, are some of the most difficult enemies. These birds are:

American Kestrels

Butcher Birds

Carolina Wrens

Crows

House Sparrows

Northern Cardinals

Red-winged Blackbirds

Song Sparrows

Rodents can also be found across the region. These rodents consist of:

Chipmunks

Common Muskrats

House Mice

Moles

Pocket Gophers

Shrews

Squirrels

Water Drakes, also known as amphibians, are there to defeat in combat. There are many to encounter, such as:

American Bullfrogs

American Green Treefrogs

Eastern Newts

Fowler’s Toads

Gray Treefrogs

Green Frogs

Marbled Salamanders

Spotted Salamanders

Spring Peepers

Woodhouse’s Toads

Snakes, also known as Wyrms, prowl the area. These deadly ambush predators are:

Dekay’s Brownsnakes

Eastern Garter Snakes

Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes

Glossy Swampsnakes

North American Racers

Plain Bellied Water Snakes

Red-bellied Snakes

Rough Greensnakes

Western Ribbon Snakes

Ending off the list of beasts are the Wyverns, which is the name for bats. These Wyverns include:

Big Brown Bats

Eastern Red Bats

Evening Bats

Hoary Bats

Mexican Free-tailed Bats

Silver-haired Bats

Southeastern Myotis

Tricolored Bats

There will also be insectoid enemies that you will be able to fight. Can you guess what area in the Americas this game's first setting takes place in?

[ladylinnae]

This is an American Green Treefrog who hangs out on my deck.

[exocynraku]

Very excited you like my frogo. There are ten in total. We had a huge rain come in that lasted for two days and so they were gone, hunting and probably enjoying the nice weather. I've been waiting for them to return and now they are back! We have two that hang out on one of our hummingbird feeder. They are Gray treefrogs. Sorry- I'm training to be a herpetologist so... I know things pfft. I'll try not to bore you with that stuff. I have called the bigger one Nectar and the little one my grandmama named Nancy. We have seven little American green treefrogs and they doesn't have names but we have been lovingly been calling them days of the week. Then the last two are Shelly and Shelby. They stay on the shell decoration. They are Cope's green treefrogs. Thank you for letting me talk about my frogs. I'll stop boring you now ^^.

WOWOWOWOW!!! SOOO MANY!!!! so so so cool!! i love the pic where theyre all of the window LOL thats funny

[pintando-paredes]

Mural at infant school in Brazil - crowdfunding campaign

https://youtu.be/OhFp7ym5bIc

Original campaign: https://chuffed.org/project/infant-school-mural-brazil

What and where

We are painting an 85 metre mural at João Batista Cardoso infant school in São Luiz do Paraitinga, Brazil with the participation of the children, parents and teachers.

The mural will transform the wall into bright, colourful and engaging space for the whole community to enjoy, especially the children as they walk to and from school.

Why

The infant school takes approximately 180 children from 3-6 years old and is compulsory as the first stage of schooling in Brazil. The school provides a wonderful space for young children to play and learn but as part of a small rural town it lacks the funds to spend on anything other than the normal day-to-day running costs of the school. For this reason we are using crowdfunding and asking you to help us realise the project.

We strongly believe that participatory art projects bring people together in a creative, constructive and positive action that benefits both the individual participating and their wider community. Mural projects nurture and inspire creativity in children and adults alike and can boost morale, community cohesion and create a sense of pride and ownership over a public space.

How

Our community artist and project leader Andy will organise and implement the painting in conjunction with the director, teachers and parents of the school. Andy is an experienced community artist and has spent the last five years working in Brazil running various participatory art projects for children and young people with different charities and NGOs.¹

We will run scheduled sessions with the different classes for the children to participate in the painting as well as inviting and encouraging parents to participate as well.

Design

The design depicts many of the animals that are native to this region of Brazil and also the Paraitinga river which runs by the side of the school and from which the town gets its name.

The design of the mural is simple and geometric, this creates an impactful visual style whilst at the same time allowing for everyone to take part in painting as the design can be ‘painted by numbers’.

Mural plan to scale:

Details of each animal:

Capivara / Capybara – Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

Corujinha-do-mato / Tropical screech-owl – Megascops choliba

Borboleta 88 / Cramer’s eighty-eight butterfly – Diaethria clymena

Bugio-ruivo / Brown howler monkey – Alouatta guariba

Jararacuçu / Jararacussu – Bothrops jararacussu

Tucano-de-bico-verde / Green-billed toucan – Ramphastos dicolorus

Preguiça-de-garganta-marrom / Brown-throated three-toed sloth - Bradypus variegatus

Beija-flor-de-orelha-violeta / White-vented violetear - Colibri serrirostris

Anta-brasileira / South American tapir - Tapirus terrestris

Saúva-limão / Leafcutter ant - Atta sexdens

Tatu-galinha / Nine-banded armadillo - Dasypus novemcinctus

Onça-pintada / Jaguar - Panthera onca

Periquito rico / Plain parakeet - Brotogeris tirica

Macaco-prego / Black capuchin - Sapajus nigritus

Rã-flautinha / Lutz's treefrog - Aplastodiscus albosignatus

Morcego-beija-flor / Geoffroy's tailless bat - Anoura Geoffroyi

Jacutinga / Black-fronted piping guan - Pipile jacutinga

Quati-de-cauda-anelada / South American coati - Nasua nasua

When

We have already painted around 20% of the space beginning with the water pattern which included the participation of the school children and we believe the project will realistically take five months to finish.

This timeline is an estimate that can change depending on various factors. It also does not just reflect the time it will take to paint the mural but the time it will take to complete the project as a whole. This includes the other preparation work necessary such as: finalising the design and colour choices inline with paint available, preparing the large stencils, transferring the design onto the wall and organising participatory workshops with the school children inline with the school's timetable.

Objectives

To complete the painting of the mural through the participation of parents, children and local community members.

To transform the space, creating a sense of ownership, pride and community.

To strengthen the ties between the families and the school.

To run further sessions with each class so that every child in the school makes their mark on the mural.

Funding

Until this point our community artist has given his time voluntarily to work on the project and we have been able to cover the cost of the paint and materials through fundraising events at the school. But with the scale of the mural and the time it will take to complete it this funding will to allow him to support himself whilst he completely dedicate his time to running the project with the school over the next five months.

We are looking for your help to raise £1000 to be able to fully realise the mural and achieve our objectives for the project.

This funding amount is based on the minimum monthly wage in Brazil which for 2019 is R$998.²

The average GBP-BRL exchange rate for the last 12 months has been 4.989.³

This equates to £200.04 per month, so a projected timeline of 5 months therefore gives a total of £1000.20

Perks

As a thank you for supporting the project we have come up with some amazing perks that includes the original artwork from the mural by our community artist Andy Câncio Bunce.

Remember to please include your name to be painted on the wall and address to receive the postcards, prints and posters in a message!

For the posters please include which animal you would like based on the designs featured on this page.

Name on the wall

Your name will be painted on the wall as part of our list of supporters for everyone to see and to show our appreciation of your donation. A photo of the names on the wall will be posted on here and our Instagram page for you to see once they have all been painted.

Thank you postcards

A handwritten thank you postcard sent directly from São Luiz do Paraitinga in Brazil, each one features an animal from the mural design. There is a total of five postcard designs, if choosing one or three the designs will be chosen at random.

Limited edition signed A4 print

Small print (210 x 297 mm) of the final mural artwork showing all 16 animals used with their common names in Portuguese and English and their scientific name. Printed on 250gsm matt couché (coated) paper. The prints are from a limited run 50 which will be numbered and signed by the artist.

A3 poster

Medium print (297 x 420 mm) of one of the animals from the mural artwork printed on 140gsm matt paper.

A2 poster

Large print (420 x 594 mm) of one of the animals from the mural artwork printed on 200gsm satin paper.

Delivery

Postcards and Prints will be sent after the crowdfunder has finished and should arrive within 2-4 weeks but could take longer depending on printing times.

Photos of the names on the wall will be published once the mural is completed.

If there are any problems with your perk/reward please get in contact so that we can resolve it quickly.

Updates

We will post regular updates on the project here on the crowdfunding page and also on our Instagram www.instagram.com/pintando_paredes/ so you can see the difference your help has made to the project and how the mural is progressing!

Thank you!

Thank you very much for taking the time to check out our crowdfunder. We will be very grateful for any donations, big or small, to help us realise this project!

Please share this crowdfunding page on your social media accounts to help us reach more people.

For any questions please email andrewcanciobunce@gmail.com

Thank you very much!

Media

References

¹ https://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/harpenden-artist-leads-project-inspired-by-rio-olympics-1-4670633

² http://www.brasil.gov.br/noticias/emprego-e-previdencia/2019/01/decreto-fixa-salario-minimo-de-r-998-em-2019

³ https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=BRL&view=1Y

Perks

Level 1

Name on the wall

Level 2

1 x Thank you postcard from Brazil 

Name on the wall

Level 3

3 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 4

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 5

Limited edition signed A4 print

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 6

A3 poster

Limited edition signed A4 print

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 7

A2 poster

Limited edition signed A4 print

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

[rjzimmerman]

What are you hearing? From Cable Museum (in Cable, Wisconsin):

Spring and Summer in 22 seconds! In this animation, eight common species of frogs (including a toad!) give their calls through the season. Wood frog, boreal chorus frog, spring peeper, northern leopard frog, American toa, Gray treefrog, green frog, and bullfrog.

[fresh-frogs]

Frogs be like

[firelord-frowny]

animals i’ve seen in my yard/neighborhood

groundhogs, which are Especially Cute when they sit on the stone benches in my mom’s garden

bluejays

woodpeckers, including yellowbellied sapsuckers, northern flickers, and downy woodpeckers

a badger, I’m petty sure, after it dug up my dead parakeet and ate it. (But also, I’m not sure that it was a badger bc apparently their range doesn’t usually extend this far southeast? But it definitely looked like a badger to me!)

eastern box turtles, which are a Vulnerable Species in the area!

numerous black rat snakes

dekay’s brown snakes

garter snakes 

 great horned ominously silhouetted against the night sky while perched on a bare tree branch

A raccoon being mercilessly harassed and divebombed by two mockingbirds 

That same raccoon a few days later, except missing its tail and one of its back legs :(

common nighthawks swooping down and making “nyoom” sounds as they do so (seriously, look it up, it’s cray.)

turkey vultures on the gabled rooftop of the creepy house on the hill 

red tailed hawks

great blue herons

turkeys running through the yard on the day before Thanksgiving 

A barred owl on a power line at 2:30pm (except this was Down The Street from my neighborhood)

Bigass cicada larvae 

Black widows in the grill pit 

Five-lined skinks 

Ruby-throated hummingbirds 

cedar waxwings

Cardinals and their hatchling babies in the rose bush 

gray catbirds and their hatchling babies in the morning glory

A lil katydid nymph

European hornets

Baldfaced hornets

Various paper wasp species 

wood bees

honeybees

clearwing moths

hummingbird hawkmoths

American toads

Fowler’s toads

Leopard frogs

A species of greenish brown, semi-aquatic “true frog” that i still haven’t ben able to identify and haven’t seen in like 12 years, though I think it was probably just your average “green frog,” just very young/small

Gray treefrogs 

Gray foxes

Red foxes 

[typhlonectes]

North American Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea), in a wetland in Northern Florida, USA

photographs by Dick Bartlett (used w/ permission)

[fenrislorsrai]

American Green Treefrog (Dryophytes cinereus) by Damon Williford

[richleighton]

The Cuban treefrog is my #1 hated invasive species for a number of reasons ranging from ecological damage to personally anger-inducing events and even slightly barf-worthy situations. I’ll explain that last one in a moment.

Cuban treefrogs are an invasive species from the Caribbean Islands that arrived in the US mainland most likely as stowaways aboard boats and as hitchhikers inside of cases of imported fruit. Free from their historical predators, they have managed to not only survive, but they’ve managed to thrive by forcing their American cousins (such as the green and squirrel treefrogs) out of their historic, native ranges.

~ click on any image to enlarge ~

Cuban Treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis)

An adult Cuban treefrog actively hunting late at night for prey among the foliage in Fort Myers, Florida. These aggressive and voracious natives to Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas are wreaking havoc among Florida’s native species of treefrogs, and are out-competing them in terms of resources and habitat.

From my own experience, these heinous nocturnal beasts are wildly variable in color: brown, gold, yellow, beige, greenish, bronze, marbled, spotted and even nearly white. Unlike their native counterparts, they are loud. REALLY loud. My last home in Fort Myers, Florida was surrounded by papaya and banana trees (which Cuban treefrogs love) and it was like a rock concert at night when I was trying to sleep. I didn’t want to kill any, but I did encourage the local native snakes (and there were many) to hang around…. at least they are silent. It’s hard to be taken seriously when you say you didn’t sleep last night because of %$@*ing frogs. The tourists were often bad enough. What’s even worse is that these amphibious vikings are masters of getting INTO your house!

The night that forever made the Cuban treefrog the object of my gag-inducing disgust was on a hot, steamy summer night (you fellow Florida natives know what I mean when I say it’s 10 pm and your sweaty, wet clothes are sticking to your body from just the humidity) in Fort Myers when I had to make a late-night run to the grocery store for some things. I threw on a t-shirt, slipped on some shoes and headed out.

It was one of those nights (I’m sure everyone here knows what I mean) that after working way too many long days, you just want to space out and look around the store and not have to think about anything – especially work-related. So you browse and browse and browse some more. You spend WAY too long in the store, and after what seems like miles of wandering aimlessly with a nearly empty shopping cart, that nagging sock that’s slid down to the toe of your shoe starts driving you nuts. You pull up your socks, try to dig your foot deeper into your shoe, and maybe try tapping the side of your toe against your other shoe. Maybe you try to dig your foot deeper into your sock and things will fix themselves. Maybe you kick your shoe against something hard.

On the drive home, I was thinking that these socks are going in the trash the moment I get indoors. I get home, bring my purchases inside, and about two hours after putting on my irksome sock, I take off the offending shoe. With a defiant look of contempt, a still-alive, bloody Cuban treefrog with guts hanging out of its side and trailing behind it low-crawls out of my shoe and would have gone further if it wasn’t stuck to the sock still attached to my foot. After fighting the urge to toss my cookies I tossed my shoes, socks and that nasty little bastard out onto the lawn and spent the rest of the night with the heebie-jeebies. It wasn’t there in the morning, and

It wasn’t there in the morning, and its fate is still unknown.

~ see more images like this ~

NORTH AMERICAN AMPHIBIANS GALLERY

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Rich Leighton August 18, 2017

ALL IMAGES AVAILABLE FOR PRINT OR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD! ©2017 Leighton Photography & Imaging

The post The Cuban Treefrog + A Gross Story About One of Florida’s Most Annoying Invasive Species appeared first on Leighton Photography & Imaging.