Pseudacris nigrita (LeConte, 1825)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hylidae > Subfamily: Hylinae > Genus: Pseudacris > Species: Pseudacris nigrita

Rana nigrita LeConte, 1825, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, 1: 282. Type(s): Not designated; likely originally deposited in ANSP. Gates, 1988, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 416: 1, suggested that ANSP 2211–14 and USNM 5935, 234482, 234486 may be syntypes. Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 509, report a specimen donated by LeConte to the MNHNP (type?) from "Georgia", USA. Type locality: None given; designated as "the vicinity of Riceborough, Liberty County, Georgia", USA by Harper, 1935, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 48: XXX; designated as "Liberty County, Georgia", USA, by Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 74. Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 509, report a specimen donated by LeConte to the MNHNP (type?) from "Georgia", USA. See discussion by Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 351. 

Acris nigritaDuméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 509.

Cystignathus nigritusHolbrook, 1842, N. Am. Herpetol., Ed. 2, 4: 107.

Pseudacris nigritaFitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 31; Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 31.

Chorophilus nigritusBaird, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 59. Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 352, regarded the original publication date to be 1856, but see Fox, 1913, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Index, 1812–1912: vii–xiv.

Chorophilus verrucosus Cope, 1877, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 17: 87. Holotype: ANSP 10773, according to Malnate, 1971, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 123: 353. Type locality: "Volusia, [on the east side of the St. John's River, perhaps 5 miles southeast of Lake George, Volusia County,] Florida", USA. Synonymy by Cope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 338.

Hyla verrucosaBrocchi, 1881, Miss. Scient. Mex. Amer. Centr., Rech. Zool., 3(2, livr. 1): 43. ; by implication Noble, 1923, Am. Mus. Novit., 70: 5. Secondary homonym of Hyla verrucosa Daudin IN Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille, 1801 "An. X", Hist. Nat. Rept., 2: 186.

Chorophilus nigritus verrucosusCope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 338. Provisional suggestion.

Pseudacris verrucosusNoble, 1923, Am. Mus. Novit., 70: 1.

Hyla nigritaNoble, 1923, Am. Mus. Novit., 70: 5, by implication.

Pseudacris nigrita nigritaStejneger and Barbour, 1933, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 3: 31. Schwartz, 1957, Am. Mus. Novit., 1838: 11.

Pseudacris nigrita verrucosaBrady and Harper, 1935, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 48: 108.

Pseudacris nigrita verrucosaSchwartz, 1957, Am. Mus. Novit., 1838: 11.

Hyla (Pseudacris) nigrita floridensis Dubois, 1984, Alytes, 3: 88. Replacement name for Chorophilus verrucosus in Hyla (Dubois, 1982, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 16: 9-65).

Pseudacris (Pseudacris) nigritaFouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 351. 

English Names

Black Tree Frog (Pseudacris nigrita: Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 23).

Black Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita: Wright, 1932, Life Hist. Frogs Okefinokee Swamp, 2: 13).

Chorus Frog (Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 158).

Southern Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita: Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 12; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 63; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 12; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 12; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 12; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 10; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 7; Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 20; Frost, Lemmon, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 18).

Swamp Tree Frog (Pseudacris nigrita: Dickerson, 1906, The Frog Book: 157).

Swamp Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita nigrita: Wright and Wright, 1933, Handb. Frogs Toads U.S. Canada: x).

Black Winter-Frog (Pseudacris nigrita nigrita: Carr, 1940, Univ. Florida Biol. Sci. Ser., 3: 55).

Swamp Tree Frog (Pseudacris nigrita nigrita: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 74).

Southern Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita nigrita: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 74; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 176; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 330; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 12; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 63; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 12).

Striped Southern Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita nigritaCrother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 12).

Florida Winter-Frog (Pseudacris nigrita verrucosus: Carr, 1940, Univ. Florida Biol. Sci. Ser., 3: 56).

Florida Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita verrucosus: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 75; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 176; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 330; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 12; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 63; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 12;  Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: : 12).

Distribution

Atlantic Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia and west-central North Carolina to southern Mississippi and southern Florida, USA.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Alabama, United States of America - Florida, United States of America - Georgia, United States of America - Mississippi, United States of America - North Carolina, United States of America - South Carolina, United States of America - Virginia

Endemic: United States of America

Comment

In the Pseudacris nigrita group of Faivovich, Haddad, Garcia, Frost, Campbell, and Wheeler, 2005, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 294: 106. Two subspecies recognized; for discussion see Smith and Smith, 1952, Am. Midl. Nat., 48: 165–180, and Schwartz, 1957, Am. Mus. Novit., 1838: 1–12. Gates, 1988, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 416: 1–3, provided an account. Dubois, 1982, Monit. Zool. Ital., N.S., Suppl., 16: 9–65, placed Pseudacris as a subgenus of Hyla, and thereby made Hyla verrucosus Latreille in Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille, 1801 "An. X", Hist. Nat. Rept., 2: 186 (a nomen dubium, possibly senior to Hyla versicolor), a subjective senior homonym of Chorophilus verrucosa Cope, 1877, Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 17: 89 (= Pseudacris nigrita verrucosa); Dubois provided the replacement name Hyla (Pseudacris) nigrita floridanaCocroft and Ryan, 1995, Animal Behav., 49: 283–303, discussed advertisement call in an evolutionary context. Moriarty and Cannatella, 2004, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 30: 409–420, rejected the recognition of subspecies. Leja, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 474–475, and Dodd, 2013, Frogs U.S. and Canada, 1: 385–390, provided accounts that summarized the relevant literature and range. Elliot, Gerhardt, and Davidson, 2009, Frogs and Toads of N. Am.: 96–99, provided an account, photos, and advertisement call. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 210–212, provided an account of larval morphology and biology. See account of biology and life history in southern Florida by Meshaka and Lane, 2015, Herpetol. Conserv. Biol., 10 (Monogr. 5): 60–63. Guyer and Bailey, 2023, Frogs and Toads of Alabama: 164–166, provided a detailed account for the species in Alabama, USA.   

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