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Description: Pine Barrens Treefrogs are mid-sized, green
treefrogs -- 1-1 ¾ inches (2.8-4.4 cm) in length, with
sticky toepads. Lavender stripes, bordered by a lighter cream
or white, run down sides and across the eyes, forming a mask.
Orange is found on the concealed surfaces of the legs. Males
smaller than females and have loose skin under chin.
Range and Habitat: The North American range of the species
is limited to three disjunct populations in New Jersey, the Sandhills
of northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina, and the
Florida panhandle. The primary habitat of this species includes
swamps, bogs, Carolina Bays, and pocosins of the Pine Barrens
and Sandhills. Moist and humid bottomland forests of the Coastal
Plains are considered marginal habitat for this species.
Habits: Like all our treefrogs, this species is nocturnal
and seldom seen outside of its breeding season, which is during
the late spring and summer.
Call: This species' call sounds like a nasal "waank,
waank." This is very similar to that of the green tree frog
(Hyla cinerea), but it does not carry long distances and
is lower in pitch. Because of this calling similarity of these
two species, the known range of the Pine Barrens Treefrog may
be inaccurate.
Conservation Status: This species is not protected federally,
but it is protected as a threatened species in South Carolina.
Its small range and specific habitat requirements make this species
vulnerable to habitat degradation.
Pertinent References:
Gerhardt, H. Carl. 1974. Behavioral Isolation of the Tree Frogs,
Hyla cinerea and Hyla andersonii. The American
Midland Naturalist 91(2):424-433.
Morin, Peter Jay, Sharon P. Lawler, and Elizabeth A. Johnson.
1990. Ecology and Breeding Phenology of Larval Hyla
andersonii: The Disadvantages of Breeding Late. Ecology 71(4):
1590-1598.
Pehek, Ellen L. 1995. Competition pH and the Ecology of Larval
Hyla andersonii. Ecology 76(6):1786-1793.
Account author: Jason Norman, University of Georgia -
edited by J.D. Willson
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