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(Hyla arenicolor)
Identification: Toe tips paddle-shaped; upper side light brown or gray, often matching color of rock, becoming chalky in individuals in full sun at midday; hind toes with extensive webbing; rear of thighs and groin orange-yellow; head and body length up to about 57 mm (2.2 inches).
Mature male: Throat skin loose and dusky during breeding season; expanded vocal sac
two-lobed
Breeding call : A loud, nasal, rapid, stuttering
“ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” lasting usually about 0.75–2.0 seconds, sometimes
sounding like an engine turning, a woodpecker drumming, or a machine gun.
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Larvae: Upper side brownish, paler than blackish Bufo
toad larvae that often occur in the same pools but somewhat darker than large Spea
spadefoot larvae; tail fin relatively high, mainly clear with scattered
dark squiggles mostly in upper fin and fin tip (sometimes more heavily
speckled in large larvae); muscular part of tail with dark bars or spots;
belly gold/cream-colored; gut coil visible; throat dark; eyes widely
separated, just inside outer margin of head when viewed from above;
usually 2 rows of tiny teeth on upper lip, 3 rows on lower lip; tooth row
closest to jaw on upper lip has narrow gap in middle; tooth row farthest
from jaw on lower lip almost as long as other rows on lower lip; up to at
least 54 mm (2.1 inches) long.
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Eggs: Deposited individually or in small clumps; generally
attached to objects at bottom of stream pool.
Habitat: Occurs
only along rocky stream courses in canyons. Basks on rocks, hides in rock
crevices
.
