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Family Eleutherodactylidae Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides (Cope, 1878 “1877”) Rio Grande Chirping Frog ETYMOLOGY cystignathoides: According to Lynch (1970), the name is derived from Cystignathus, an old generic name for several leptodactylid frogs. campi: a patronym honoring R.D. Camp who presented the type specimen to the U.S. National Museum. NOMENCLATURE Frost et al. (2006a): Syrrhophus cystignathoides Synonyms: Eleutherodactylus campi, Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides campi, Phyllobates cystignathoides, Syrrhophus campi IDENTIFICATION Adults. This is a small, rather nondescript frog with a brownish gray to brownish green ground color. The body is elongate and flattened, and the snout is pointed. A dark bar is present from the eye to the end of the nose, but there are no interorbital bars. Dark spots are present dorsally on a finely granular skin. The rear part of the body has irregular flecking. Vertical bars are present on the legs. Toes on the digits are only slightly expanded. Venters are smooth and translucent, and the ventral vein appears as a dark line down the middle of the belly. Adult males are 16.3–23.5 mm SUL, whereas females are 16–25.8 mm SUL (Lynch, 1970). Eleven individuals captured in Houston ranged from 7 to 23.7 mm SUL (Quinn, 1979). Adults are 15–25 mm SUL. Larvae. There is no free-swimming larva. The larval period is passed within the egg, and froglets hatch as miniature adults. Hayes-Odum (1990) describes development within the egg. Eggs. The eggs are small and unpigmented, measuring 3–3.5–5.0 mm in diameter (Livezey and Wright, 1947; Hayes-Odum, 1990). DISTRIBUTION The Rio Grande Chirping Frog is found naturally from the Rio Grande embayment south to Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, and Veracruz in Mexico. Scattered populations are reported from a variety of locations in east Texas (Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Kingsville, Tyler, San Antonio, La Grange) (Quinn, 1979) into Louisiana (Hardy, 2004); these were probably introduced through the potted plant trade. An important distributional reference is Dixon (2000). FOSSIL RECORD Fossil Rio Grande Chirping Frogs are reported from Pleistocene deposits in Tamaulipas, Mexico Distribution of Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides 198 ELEUTHERODACTYLIDAE TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY Nothing has been reported on the terrestrial ecology of this species. CALLING ACTIVITY AND MATE SELECTION In Louisiana, Hardy (2004) reported calling in April and from August to November. Calling occurred mostly at night, but calling also occurred in the morning from 07:30 to 09:15 hrs. The minimum air temperature at which calling takes place is ca. 20ºC (Hayes-Odum, 1990). Calling occurs from perches as high as 22 cm above the substrate early in the evening (Hayes-Odum, 1990). As the night progresses, most calling occurs at lower perch heights and from beneath vegetation, where males call from crevices in leaf litter and mulch. The crevices appear to penetrate into the soil, and frogs retreat deeper into the burrows and tunnels should they be disturbed or after calling ceases at dawn. Crevices in sidewalks, rock walls, and buildings also are used. Calling occurs both in rainy and dry weather, but calling is more intensive on rainy nights. Females move toward calling males and may initiate amplexus by lightly touching the male. An amplexed pair may move around until an appropriate oviposition site is found. OVIPOSITION SITES Oviposition occurs at or just below the substrate surface in moist soil or under surface debris. (Holman, 2003). Holman (2003), however, noted that osteological characters useful in identification of fossils of this species are not available. SYSTEMATICS AND GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION Rio Grande Chirping Frogs were described as Syrrhophus campi by Stejneger (1915) and later assigned as a subspecies of S. cystignathoides (Martin, 1958). This relationship needs to be reexamined using molecular analysis. In his 1970 review of the genus Syrrhophus, Lynch placed this species in the leprus species group. Hedges (1989) synonymized the genus Syrrhophus with Eleutherodactylus, and Heinicke et al. (2007) noted the Caribbean clade of eleutherodactyline frogs, included frogs formerly considered Syrrhophus , and that the proper generic name was Eleutherodactylus. Hedges et al. (2008) placed E. cystignathoides within the Eleutherodactylus (Syrrhophus) leprus species series. Some authors, however, continue to recognize Syrrhophus as a genus rather than as a subgenus. ADULT HABITAT The Rio Grande Chirping Frog is found along sandy river alluvium rather than in rock outcrops as are the other Texas chirping frogs. Wright and Wright (1938) described the habitat as “moist earth under boards, brick, or stone piles, under walks, or any cover of yard, field, grass, or brush.” Adult Eleutherodactylus...

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