Weekly Puzzler Answer # 16

Identifying this frog with certainty is actually a trick question because there are two species of frogs that cannot be distinguished in the field. These are: the Common Gray Treefrog (hyla versicolor) and the Cope’s Gray Treefrog (hyla chrysoscelis.) These two species are found throughout the eastern United States and are identical in appearance. In North Carolina, both are present, but in my county –Buncombe–only the Cope’s Gray Treefrog has been identified. Interestingly, the Common Gray Treefrog has twice as many chromosomes as the Cope’s Treefrog. If they are calling, this offers another way to distinguish the two.

Do you know anything about this frog? How it survives winter, especially in the northeast where temperatures are below freezing for months on end? Or a cool thing it can do to avoid predators? Want to know what this frog sounds like?

Check back on Monday as the Gray Treefrog is this week’s Creature Feature.