Pseudacris Fitzinger, 1843

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hylidae > Subfamily: Hylinae > Genus: Pseudacris
17 species

Pseudacris Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 31. Type species: Rana nigrita LeConte, 1825, by monotypy.

Chorophilus Baird, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 59. Type species: Rana nigrita LeConte, 1825, by original designation. Synonymy with Pseudacris by Cope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 338, who, however, continued to use Chorophilus. The use of Pseudacris as the older name begins with Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 30. Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 345, regarded the original publication date to be 1856, but see Fox, 1913, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia,, Index, 1812–1912: vii–xiv.

Helocaetes Baird, 1854, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 59. Type species: Hyla triseriata Wied-Neuwied, 1839, by subsequent designation of Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 73. Synonymy by Cope, 1862, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 14: 157; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 332. Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 345, regarded the original publication date to be 1856, but see Fox, 1913, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia,, Index, 1812–1912: vii–xiv.

Heloecetes — Baird, 1859, Rep. U.S-Mex. Bound. Surv., 2(Pt. 2-Rept.): 28. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Hyliola Mocquard, 1899, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 4, 1: 337. Type species: Hyla regilla Baird and Girard, 1852, by subsequent designation of Stejneger, 1907, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 58: 75. Placed in the synonymy of Pseudacris by Günther, 1901, Biol. Centr. Amer., Rept. Batr., Vol. 7, Part 165: 263, by implication; by Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 33, and by Faivovich, Pereyra, Luna, Hertz, Blotto, Vásquez-Almazán, McCranie, Sánchez, Baêta, Araujo-Vieira, Köhler, Kubicki, Campbell, Frost, Wheeler, and Haddad, 2018, S. Am. J. Herpetol., 13: 15. See comment. 

Limnaoedus Mittleman and List, 1953, Copeia, 1953: 83. Type species: Hylodes ocularis Holbrook, 1838, by original designation. Synonymy by Hedges, 1986, Syst. Zool., 35: 11.

Parapseudacris Hardy and Burrows, 1986, Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 22: 80. Type species: Hyla crucifer Wied-Neuwied, 1838, by original designation. Synonymy with Hyla by implication of Cocroft, 1994, Herpetologica, 50: 420-437, and with Pseudacris by Hedges, 1986, Syst. Zool., 35: 11.

Pycnacris Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 361. Type species: Rana ornata Holbook, 1836, by original designation. Coined as a subgenus of Pseudacris. 

English Names

Little Tree Frogs (Chorophilus [no longer recognized]: Jordan, 1878, Man. Vert. North. U.S., Ed. 2: 189; Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 108).

Swamp Tree Toads (Pseudacris: Fowler, 1907, Annu. Rep. N.J. State Mus. for 1906: 97).

Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris: Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 176; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 25; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 62; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 12; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 11; Frost, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 9; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 20; Frost, McDiarmid, Mendelson, and Green, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 19; Frost, Lemmon, McDiarmid, and Mendelson, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 16).

Fat Chorus Frogs (Pycnacris [subgenus]: Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 362). 

Stout Chorus Frogs (Pycnacris [subgenus]: Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 362). 

Western Chorus Frogs (Hyliola [no longer recognized]: Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 354). 

Distribution

North America east of the Great Basin from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico; southern Alaska, USA, to southern Baja California, Mexico, and eastward to western Texas, USA.

Comment

Dubois, 1984, Alytes, 3: 85–89, regarded Pseudacris as a subgenus of Hyla, following Noble, 1923, Am. Mus. Novit., 70: 1–6, who considered Pseudacris a junior synonym of Hyla. Hedges, 1986, Syst. Zool., 35: 11, placed former Hyla crucifer, Hyla regilla, Hyla cadaverina, and Limnaoedus ocularis in Pseudacris and discussed phylogenetic relationships. Cocroft, 1994, Herpetologica, 50: 420–437, provided a phylogenetic analysis of Pseudacris and disputed Hedges' results, although Silva, 1997, J. Herpetol., 31: 609–613, provided additional evidence and discussion in support of placing these species within Pseudacris. Moriarty and Cannatella, 2004, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 30: 409–420, discussed phylogeny in the genus. In the Hylini of Faivovich, Haddad, Garcia, Frost, Campbell, and Wheeler, 2005, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 294: 89, who recognized four groups within the genus (p. 106) noted in the species records. Lemmon, Lemmon, Collins, Lee-Yaw, and Cannatella, 2007, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 44: 1068–1082, provided results that corroborated the tree of Faivovich, Haddad, Garcia, Frost, Campbell, and Wheeler, 2005, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 294: 89, and discussed and revised the Pseudacris nigrita group. Lemmon, Lemmon, and Cannatella, 2007, Evolution, 61: 2086–2103, discussed the biogeography of the Pseudacris nigrita group. Lemmon, Lemmon, Collins, and Cannatella, 2008, Zootaxa, 1675: 45–46, also provided a summary of the phylogenetics of the Pseudacris nigrita group. Barrow, Ralicki, Emme, and Lemmon, 2014, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 75: 78–90, reported on molecular phylogenetics. Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 345–365, employed subgeneric names: 1) Pseudacris for the Pseudacris nigrita and Pseudacris brachyphona groups; 2) Hyliola for the Pseudacris regilla group; 3) Limnaoedus for the Pseudacris crucifer group; and Pycnacris for the Pseudacris ornata group. Barrow, Ralicki, Emme, and Lemmon, 2014, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 75: 78–90, reported on species tree estimation, reported on significant mtDNA and nuDNA discordance due to inter-species introgression and discussed the taxonomic difficulties associated with the Pseudacris regilla group and the relationship of nominal Pseudacris streckeri and Pseudacris illinoensis. Duellman, Marion, and Hedges, 2016, Zootaxa, 4104: 10, considered Hyliola to be a distinct genus, although Faivovich, Pereyra, Luna, Hertz, Blotto, Vásquez-Almazán, McCranie, Sánchez, Baêta, Araujo-Vieira, Köhler, Kubicki, Campbell, Frost, Wheeler, and Haddad, 2018, S. Am. J. Herpetol., 13: 15, subsequently argued against its recognition. Banker, Lemmon, Hassinger, Holland, Kortyna, Ospina, Ralicki, and Lemmon, 2020, Syst. Biol., 69: 756–773, reported on the molecular phylogenetics of the species, in the sense of including Hyliola as a synonym of Pseudacris, but without mentioning that synonymized name, with special reference to methods. Jadin, Orlofske, Jezkova, and Blair, 2021, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 132: 612–623, provided a mtDNA analysis that they suggested supported the species distinction (as Hyliola) of Pseudacris regilla, Pseudacris sierra, and Pseudacris hypochondriaca.  

Contained taxa (17 sp.):

Pseudacris brachyphona (Cope, 1889)
Pseudacris brimleyi Brandt and Walker, 1933
Pseudacris cadaverina (Cope, 1866)
Pseudacris clarkii (Baird, 1854)
Pseudacris collinsorum Ospina, Tieu, Apodaca, and Lemmon, 2020
Pseudacris crucifer (Wied-Neuwied, 1838)
Pseudacris feriarum (Baird, 1854)
Pseudacris fouquettei Lemmon, Lemmon, Collins, and Cannatella, 2008
Pseudacris illinoensis Smith, 1951
Pseudacris kalmi Harper, 1955
Pseudacris maculata (Agassiz, 1850)
Pseudacris nigrita (LeConte, 1825)
Pseudacris ocularis (Holbrook, 1838)
Pseudacris ornata (Holbrook, 1836)
Pseudacris regilla (Baird and Girard, 1852)
Pseudacris streckeri Wright and Wright, 1933
Pseudacris triseriata (Wied-Neuwied, 1838)

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