Southeastern Chorus Frog

Yesterday, February 11, 2008, a few students went out to visit the Meeman-Shelby State Park in Shelby County, Tennessee. The night before produced a harsh rain that provided ideal conditions to search for Herps the following day. I came across this Southeastern Chorus Frog, Psedudacris feriarum after the frog was producing its mating call from a stagnant pool of water that was produced from the previous night’s rainfall. The calls seemed to come from roughly10-15 frogs, and sounded like a finger running down the edge of a comb. After sneaking up to the water, the frogs quieted down and hid. After a few minutes of searching, this Chorus Frog was found sitting at the bottom of the water. The frog was small, roughly 3-4 cm in length, and was very active. The frog had thin dorsal stripes that were broken up in a few spots. A few of the frogs were found in aplexis and were unable to separate, showing its strength of holding onto the females during mating. The picture was taken after one of the free Chorus Frogs was picked up for observation.

Vincent Pirani
Memphis, TN