KEYS TO FROGS AND TOADS 



15. Ill sill. ill strc.ims, sli.illow pools, or rarely in sli.iilow edges ot larger streams and 

 lakes; rarely in valleys, common on mountains (in eastern Oklahoma); color very 

 dark (black, or nearly so, dorsally), eastern half of Oklahoma mostly in wood- 

 land or savannah. American Toad, Bnfo tcrrcstris amcricanm Holbrook. 



16. Tail tip attenuated (Hyiidae) 18 



16. Tail tip not attenuated 17 



17. Body flattened; eyes on lateral axis; general appearance like a small frying jian. 

 (Microhyla) 20 



17. Body rounded, eyes not on lateral axis; not p.in-like. (Hufo, Rana, Scajihiopus) . 30 



18. Eyes very wide apart, at or near sides of head (Hyla, Microhyla, Pseudacris) . . 19 



18. Eyes not exceptionally wide apart (Acris, Bufo, Rana, Scaphiopus) 29 



19. Body depressed; eyes at extreme sides of head; tail often with black tip, rather 

 short; no horny jaws; no labial teeth; general appearance like a tiny frying pan 

 with a short handle. (Microhyla) 20 



19. Body not depressed, rounded, not frying pan-like; horny jaws and labial teeth pres- 

 ent; tail tip not intensely black. (Hyla, Pseudacris) 21 



20. Eyes just visible from ventral surface. State-wide except eastern tier of counties 



Texas Narrow Mouth Toad, Microhyla airolineiisis oliracca (Hallovvell). 



20. Eyes clearly visible from ventral surface; extreme eastern Oklahoma only. 



Southern Narrow Mouth Toad, Microhyla carolincusis carolinensis (Holbrook). 



21. Tail fin heavily motded (Hyla) 22 



21. Tail fin not heavily mottled (Acris, Hyla, Pseudacris) . 25 



22. Much red in tail fin, often mixed with black when tadpoles are nearing transfor- 

 mation. Common Tree Toad, Hyla versicolor versicolor (Le Conte). 



22. Tail fin without red, pigment mostly black 23 



23. Some black pigment concentrated at fin margin 24 



23. No black pigment concentrated at fin margin 25 



24. Marginal concentration of pigment essentially in blotches; eastern Oklahoma only. 



Spring Peeper, Hyla crticifer crticijer Wied. 



24. Marginal concentration of pigment practically a continuous line (often with 

 blotches on other portions of fin); younger tadpoles, not nearing transformation. 



Common Tree Toad, Hyla versicolor versicolor (Le Conte). 



25. Head-body a short broad ovoid, not quite so wide as long; eyes about as near to 

 midline as to sides; dorsal color greenish to greenish brown marked with numer- 

 ous, clear-cut, nearly circular cream or yellow spots; labial formula 2/2; tail tip 

 commonly intensely black on nearing transformation of tadpoles. 



Northern Cricket Frog, Acris crepitans Baird. 



25. Head-body a longer ovoid, considerably longer than wide; eyes nearer sides than 



to midline; tail tip never extensively black 26 



26. Dorsal color greenish but not conspicuously spotted; eyes on lateral axis and visible 

 from ventral surface; tail fin clear or with small black dots in smaller individuals 

 and younger stages, the black in older animals tending to form blotches or larger 

 spots; typically a lighter line through eye; extreme southeastern Oklahoma only; 

 rare. Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea cinerea (Schneider). 



26. Dorsal color variable from gray to nearly black but almost never green; no line 

 through the eye; eye dorsal to lateral axis and either not visible or barely so from 

 ventral surface; labial formula 2/3. (Pseudacris)^ 27 



27. Lower dorsal row of labial teeth not interrupted in the middle; western two-thirds 

 of Oklahoma, grasslands only. Spotted Chorus Frog, Pseudacris clarl{ii (Baird). 



27. Lower dorsal row of labial teeth interrupted in the miildle 28 



28. Labial papillae confined to the sides. 



Texas Ornate Chorus Frog, Pseudacris strecl{eri Wright and Wright. 



^ Pseudacris clar/^ii, Ps. strec/^eri, and Ps. triseriata are difficult to distinguish from 

 each other and the younger tadpoles of Ps. strcckeri, especially, resemble those of Hyla v. 

 versicolor. 



15 



