Ornate Chorus Frog

Pseudacris ornata

Reptiles & AmphibiansIn the app

A small, frog averaging 1-1.5 inches in body length. It has primarily smooth skin, with some tiny bumps. It has a moderately pointed snout and a somewhat narrow body. Dep…

How to identify

A small, frog averaging 1-1.5 inches in body length. It has primarily smooth skin, with some tiny bumps. It has a moderately pointed snout and a somewhat narrow body. Depending on location, it can be brown, green, or reddish, but all are characterized by very distinct dark brown to black markings, which extend from the tip of the snout down the sides of the face and body. These markings begin as stripes on the snout, but then become irregular, smooth-edged patches past the eyes. There are typically 2 adjacent patches on each side of the lower back, and the legs are banded with muted dark patches. Its ventrum is pale and unmarked.

Range

Range stretches through the southeast from coastal North Carolina through coastal and central South Carolina, the southern halves of Georgia and Alabama, northern Florida, and coastal Mississippi into the adjacent corner of Louisiana.

Habitat

This species spends most of its life buried underground among roots and vegetation in habitats with sandy substrate. From November to March, they emerge to breed in temporary wetlands, ponds, ditches, and flooded meadows. They can be found in pine woodlands, forests, and fallow fields near these temporary water sources.

Variations

Primary dorsal coloration can be grey, tan, brown, burnt orange, or pale to bright green. Some have very subtle darker patches on their backs. Some have bright yellow to orange patches on the fronts of their legs.

Similar species

Could be confused with the overlapping upland chorus frog (*Pseudacris feriarum*) or pine woods tree frog (*Hyla femoralis*). It also looks a lot like the Baja California tree frog (*Pseudacris hypochondriaca*) which lives in the western US.