FROGS AND TOADS 

 Chapter 10 



Frogs and toads belong to a division of the Arnphibm known as Sahentia, 

 the "■jumpers", or as Anura, the "tailless ones". The aptness of these terms is 

 not apparent in the young or tadpole stage, which is characterized hy a fat 

 body, a fin-like tail and absence of limbs. As development progresses, how 

 ever, limbs appear, first the posterior and then the anterior pair, and the tail 

 is gradually absorbed. The tail is absent from the adult stages of all native 

 frogs and toads except one northwestern species, Ascaphus truei, the male of 

 which retains a short tail throughout life. 



Frogs and toads are better known to most people by their songs than by 

 sight. The calls of the various species differ decidedly from each other and are 

 seldom heard except at the breeding season. Since one species or another is 

 reproducing from the time the ice breaks up on the ponds until late summer, 

 however, frog music is not rare. The performers are males, which reach the 

 ponds first or first feel the reproductive urge and apparently attempt to attract 

 the females by their siren songs. Strangely enough, the most penetrating cry is 

 that of one of the smallest frogs, the spring peeper, Hyla crucifer. This minia- 

 ture frog invades almost every puddle and, unlike most species, individuals 

 differ considerably in the time they reproduce, so that the call may be heard 

 from early spring until midsummer. The trill of the American toad, the low 

 pitched ''chung" of the green frog and the "jug-o-rum" of the bullfrog are 

 familiar to most country dwellers. It is worth the effort to stalk one of these 

 singers at night with the aid of a flashlight, as at night most animals are less 

 easily alarmed than in daylight. The Hylas and Bufos inflate their throats into 

 huge, balloon-like sacs as they sing. The Ranas are less spectacular when in 

 action, as they have smaller sacs, and some, such as R. pipiens, the meadow 

 frog, and R. palustns, the upland frog, have one on each side of the neck, 

 instead of a single large one in the throat region. Frog calls are fully as hard 

 to describe as bird songs. They have been compared to almost every sound 

 produced by animal or machine, but most descriptions, like the phrases used in 

 describing bird songs are of much more use in enabling one to remember the 

 calls than in aiding the beginner to identify them. One frog, Hyla avwoca, 

 owes its specific name, meaning "bird-voiced", to its call, and several have re' 

 ceived their common names from their calls. Examples of these are the bull- 

 frogs, peepers, cricket frogs and barking frogs. Probably more attempts have 

 been made to describe the mating call of the spadefoot toad than any other, and 



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