Description: They occur in a wide variety of colors including green, brown, tan, reddish or gray and have a light creamy underside. They have a dark eyestripe through each eye. The intensity of the body color can change from dark to light over short periods of time. Sierran Treefrogs are mostly found on the ground but do have large toe pads and are skilled climbers.
Habitat: These frogs occupy a wide variety of habitats, including grassland, chaparral, woodland, forest, and farmland. They live on land except during the breeding season. hey spend most of their time on the ground, but after the breeding season they may bask on the leaves of woody plants far from water, and sometimes they climb high into trees. Females deposit eggs in shallow water of marshes, lakes, ponds, ditches, reservoirs and slow-moving streams.
Range: the range presumably includes central California, Nevada, eastern Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana.
Diet: Worms, small invertebrates, and flying insects are the frog's dietary staples. Tadpoles feed on algae, bacteria and organic debris. Their feeding activities help keep streams and waterways clear of slippery plant material.
Reproduction: Sierran Treefrogs breed in the water and the eggs are laid in the water attached to vegetation and hatch into tadpoles after two or three weeks. Metamorphosis occurs in the summer.
Status: Secure or Apparently Secure inside most of its range. Classified as possibly extinct in Utah.
Subspecies: None
Taxonomy: The naming of this frog has a very confusing history. These frogs have long been known as Pacific chorus frogs Pseudacris regilla. Then, in 2006, Recuero split that taxonomic concept into three species. Recuero attached the name Pseudacris regilla with the northern piece, renaming the central piece the Sierran tree frog (Pseudacris sierra) and the southern piece the Baja California tree frog (Pseudacris hypochondriaca). Because the paper provided no maps or discussion of how to diagnose the species, it has been an extremely controversial taxonomic revision, but has been incorporated into Amphibian Species of the World 6.0 (as Pseudacris sierra). The taxonomic confusion introduced by this name change means that much of the information about Pseudacris sierra is attached to the name Pseudacris regilla.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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