If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.
You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!
On a world-wide scale, they are found throughout the central United States and Canada.
Identification:
The Boreal Chorus frog is a relatively small frog, adults reaching 30mm in length.They are brown or green in color with dark stripes or patches.They have a distinct dark marking starting at the snout, through the eye that ends at the protrusion of the front limbs.They also have toe pads on their feet, which allow them to climb small grasses and other plants (Wikipedia).Boreal Chorus frog looks like the Western Chorus frog, but they can be differentiated by looking at the legs.The Boreal Chorus frog has shorter legs.
Habitat:
They are sometimes found in grasslands and marshes, but forests are their main habitat.They are only found in water during their reproductive season, during the springtime.
Behavior:
They eat aphids, insects, beetles, flies, spiders, and ants (Montana Field Guide). They use camoflague as their main defense mechanism. Since they are colored brownish green with dorsal stripes, they tend to blend in nicely with living and dead vegetation as well as mud. This camoflague helps protect them from their predators: snakes, birds, small mammals, and large insects.
"This is one of the first species of amphibian to emerge in the spring, it is often found when snow and ice are still on the ground (Wikipedia)."
Reproduction:
Although there are many types of reproduction in frogs, the Boreal Chorus frog is rather typical in that it reproduces via external fertilization through amplexus. Mating usually occurs during the spring and is initiated by the males calling for females. The Boreal Chorus frog has a characteristic call, "reeeek" (Wikipedia). The Boreal Chorus frogs lay their eggs in clusters that range from 20-100 eggs.The eggs are usually attached to submerged vegetation and later as tadpoles they are brownish with their eyes on the sides of their heads (Montana Field Guide).
Scientific Journal:
The journal I read was, “Liver glycogen, glucose mobilization and freezing survival in chorus frogs, Pseudacris triseriata”
Jennifer L. Jenkins and David L. Swanson,
Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, 414 E Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA
Received 27 January 2005;
accepted 28 May 2005.
Available online 26 July 2005.
*NOTE* Pseudacris masculata wasn’t differentiated at the time of this article, so it is assumed that some of the frogs were of the masculata species.
In this study they looked at glycogen stores and glucose mobilization in Pseudacris triseriata and how these levels affected winter/freezing environments/conditions.They found that liver glycogen stores were significantly and positively related to body mass.The data they found suggests that the chorus frogs store up liver glycogen to prepare for hibernation and body size and liver glycogen levels must reach a threshold for the animal to survive winter/freezing conditions.
Methods:
Prior to hibernation the frogs were collected, weighed, and measured (length).Then the frogs were placed in an artificial environment that was the best “wild-like habitat” they could create.While there, they were decreased in temperature down to 2-3 degrees Celsius.When it was time to bring the temperature down to freezing, the frogs remained there for 24 hours.They brought the animals back above freezing and were tested for survival.“Only frogs demonstrating a righting response, hind limb retraction, maintenance of normal posture and the capacity for locomotion were judged as having survived a freezing episode.”
They came to the conclusion that not all frogs within a given environment are freeze-tolerant.They also think that a major factor in producing the frog’s cryoprotectant is high hepatic glycogen stores.
References:
"Boreal Chorus Frog." Amphibians of Mannitoba 28NOV1999 3 Oct 2008 <http://www.naturenorth.com/1np/Species/amphibian/1Ffrch.html>.
"Boreal Chorus Frog." Wikipedia. 2008. 3 Oct 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boreal_Chorus_Frog>.
"Boreal Chorus Frog." Wikipedia. 2006. 3 Oct 2008 <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Pseudacris_maculata.jpg/800px-Pseudacris_maculata.jpg>.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.