Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class SALAMANDERS AND FROGS (AMPHIBIA)
Order AMPHIBIANS - JUMPING (ANURA)
Family FROGS - TREE (HYLIDAE)
Common name: TREE FROG - BARKING
Scentific name: HYLA GRATIOSA

PET SPECIMEN
Location: REPTILE SHOW, LAKE CO., IL, AUG '07

Species Info:

This lifeform is found in the SE USA (Georgia, Alabama, and Florida).

Barking tree frog (Hyla gratiosa) is found in isolated populations in Delaware, Maryland, and western Kentucky, but primarily from Virginia south to southern Florida and east to Louisiana. This is primarily a species of the coastal plain. The dark spots coupled with its range are useful in identifications. However, as specimens get older, they tend to have more uniform color. (Hyla augusti of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona,  and northern Mexico is a different species of barking tree frog.)

Tree frogs (genus Hyla) are a large group of about 300 species of frogs.  Although many members of this genus are quite small, some species can be over five inches in body length.  These frogs are found widely in the New World, northwest Africa, the Middle East, as well as the Orient.

Tree Frogs (Family Hylidae) are found on all continents of the  earth. They are usually small with long legs with suction cups  on their feet. Included in this group are cricket frogs, tree  frogs, and chorus frogs. There are about 630 species in this family.

Order Anura contains the jumping amphibians such as the frogs and the toads. Chris Mattison in Frogs and Toads of the World gives a very good overview of this group of amphibians. He states that there are 3,445 species in 310 different genera that he believes should fall into 21 different families. The three largest families, in terms of species, are the Ranidae (Typical frogs) with 667 species, the Hylidae (tree frogs) with 630 species, and the Leptodactylidae (small to medium Neotropical frogs) with 710 species. The Bufonidae (true toads) has 335 species.

Amphibians (Class Amphibia) are best known as the frogs, toads, and salamanders. Amphibians begin their life as larvae that live in the water. Some species continue to evolve so that the final forms can breathe air. A typical example, is the  Bullfrog of North America that begins life as a tadpole, and then finally turns into a adult frog. Amphibians usually have a soft, moist skin, and four legs adapted for walking or jumping or  climbing. They have a three-chambered heart which gives them a fairly advanced circulatory system. There are probably about 2,500 species in this class.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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PET SPECIMEN



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FROG - NORTHERN CRICKET
ACRIS GRYLLUS CREPITANS
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TREE FROG - PINE WOODS
HYLA FEMORALIS
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HYLA PITGEOTA
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CALIFORNIA TREE FROG
PSEUDACRIS CADAVERINA
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