Craugastor augusti is a species of frog in the family Craugastoridae found in Mexico and the southern United States. It is known by various common names but most commonly as the barking frog (also common robber frog, cliff frog). The nominal species likely includes more than one species, sometimes described as subspecies such as the Common Barking Frog (Craugastor augusti augusti), Western Barking Frog (Craugastor augusti cactorum), and Eastern Barking Frog (Craugastor augusti latrans). The epithet augusti is in honor of renowned French zoologist Auguste Duméril.

Description: Adult Craugastor augusti measure 1.9 to 3.7 in. They have a characteristic fold of skin across the back of the head as well as well-developed tubercles on their feet. Colouration is sexually dimorphic. It is called the barking frog because its call sounds like the barking of a small dog, although vocalizations vary by area. It is an abundant species in Mexico but apparently rare in the United States. However, they are very difficult to detect unless they are calling. They can be heard for only two to four weeks on rainy nights after the start of the summer monsoon rains. These frogs spend the rest of the year (over 11 months) hibernating underground or in rock crevices keeping themselves cool and moist through the hot, dry season when food is scarce.

Habitat: . The adults, which vary in size from 2.5 to 3.75 inches, are terrestrial and can be found in or near cliffs, caves and in limestone or other rock outcroppings. Caves and rock outcroppings provide shelter in cool and often moist places for the frogs to hibernate. The mountains in the park, with their limestone outcroppings, provide perfect habitat for these frogs. The natural habitats of Craugastor augusti are shrublands and deserts.

Range: Barking frogs are known to range into southeastern Arizona, eastern New Mexico along the Pecos River drainage, and central Texas.

Found in these States: AZ | NM | TX

Diet: Desert climates provide these amphibians with a wide variety of potential foods. The frogs have been known to feast on various types of crickets, grasshoppers, other kinds of frogs, kissing bugs, snails, centipedes and scorpions.

Reproduction: During the few weeks they are awake, barking frogs breed and the females deposit eggs in relatively dry crevices. The young hatch out of the egg fully developed as small frogs, skipping the tadpole stage.

Taxonomy: