THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Anura    Hylidae  

Spotted Chorus Frog
Pseudacris clarkii (Baird, 1854)
SOO-day-kriss — KLARK-ee-eye

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.09.17.14.57.23)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.24 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Kansas Oklahoma Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named in honor of an early collector.
Pseudacris — From Greek pseudes (ψευδής), “false,” and akris (ἀκρίς), “locust.” Likely refers to their insect-like trilling calls—“false locusts.” The name may indicate morphological similarity to frogs of the genus Acris (Cricket Frogs).
clarkii — A patronym honoring John Henry Clark (c. 1800s–1870s), a U.S. naturalist, explorer, and topographer. He collected specimens during the U.S.–Mexico Boundary Survey in the mid-19th century including the type specimen of this species.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Clark's Tree Frog (Chorophilus triseriatus clarki: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Striped Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Clarke's Striped Tree Frog (Pseudacris nigrita clarkii: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Striped Chorus Frog (Pseudacris nigrita clarkii: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Striped Tree Frog (Pseudacris nigrita clarkii: Wright, Anna Allen, and Alex Hazen Wright. 1933. Handbook of frogs and toads. The frogs and toads of the United States and Canada Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY. xi+231pp.); Spotted Chorus Frog (Pseudacris clarki: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1854 Baird, Spencer F. Descriptions of new genera and species of North American frogs. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 7:59–62
1923 Noble, G. Kingsley. The generic and genetic relations of Pseudacris, the swamp tree frogs. American Museum Novitates (70):1-6
1953 Mittleman, M. Budd and J. C. List. The generic differentiation of the swamp treefrogs. Copeia 1953(2):80-83
1990 Pierce, Benjamin A. and Patricia H. Whitehurst. Pseudacris clarkii. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (458):1-3
2004 Moriarty, Emily C. and David C. Cannatella. Phylogenetic relationships of the North American Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris: Hylidae) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30:409-420
2005 Lannoo, Michael (Editor) Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University fo California Press, Berkeley. 1115pp.
2005 Faivovich, J., C. F. B. Haddad, P. C. de A. Garcia, D. R. Frost, J. A. Campbell, and W. C. Wheeler. Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with special reference to Hylinae: A phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (294):1–240
2007 Moriarty-Lemmon, Emily. Patterns and Processes of Speciation in North American Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris). Dissertation. University of Texas, Austin. 304pp.
2013 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 982pp.
2023 Dodd, C. Kenneth. Frogs of the United States and Canada. Second Edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. 1032pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 16:52 CT