54 
Joshua Laerm, et al. 
serves little purpose to group species by vegetation habitats recognized by 
biologists. Ecological distribution of the herpetofauna can, however, be 
summarized in terms of general habits of the animals. Many species, for 
example, are entirely aquatic and use most if not all aquatic habitats in 
the swamp. Other categories also are useful in respect to ecological dis- 
tribution of the reptiles and amphibians. For descriptive purposes, the 
herpetofauna is partitioned into six “ecological” groups (Table 2): 1) En- 
tirely aquatic species are those that spend nearly all of their lives in water; 
2) Semi-aquatic species are those that spend a major part of their lives in 
water, but may often be found on land (does not include species entering 
water only for breeding); 3) Fossorial species are those that spend most of 
their lives underground (they may become surface active for breeding or 
limited foraging); 4) Terrestrial species are those most often encountered 
on the surface and that spend most of their active time there; 5) 
Terrestrial-arboreal species may spend nearly as much time in arboreal 
habitats as on the surface; 6) Arboreal species are those that spend nearly 
all of their lives in vegetation (some of these may enter water to breed, or 
lay eggs on the ground). 
Of the Okefenokee Swamp herpetofauna, 25 (24.3%) species are en- 
tirely aquatic, 21 (20.4%) are semiaquatic, 10 (9.7%) are fossorial, 29 
(28.2%) are terrestrial, 9 (8.7%) are terrestrial-arboreal, and 9 (8.7%) are 
arboreal. Most turtles are either aquatic or semiaquatic, most lizards 
tend to be terrestrial, terrestrial-arboreal or arboreal, most snakes are 
terrestrial (but there are large numbers of species in other groups), most 
salamanders are aquatic, semiaquatic or fossorial, and frogs (including 
toads) tend to be semiaquatic or arboreal (Table 2). 
Table 2. List of amphibians and reptiles of the Okefenokee Swamp. Based on 
museum records and data from Wright and Funkhouser (1915), Wright 
and Bishop (1915), Wright (1932), Harper (1934), Wright and Wright 
(1949), and personal observations (L. Vitt, J. Laerm). Most scientific 
and all common names based on Collins et al. (1978). Aq = aquatic, 
Ar = arboreal, F = fossorial, Sa = semi-aquatic, T = terrestrial, 
T-Ar = terrestrial-arboreal. 
SPECIES 
CLASS AMPHIBIA 
ORDER ANURA 
HABITAT 
Family Bufonidae 
Bufo quercicus, Oak Toad 
Bufo terrestris, Southern Toad 
T 
T 
Family Hylidae 
A cris gryllus dorsalis, Florida Cricket Frog 
Hyla chrysoscelis. Gray Treefrog 
Sa 
Ar 
