A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California

California Treefrog - Pseudacris cadaverina

(Cope, 1866)

(= California Chorus Frog)

Click on a picture for a larger view

Description • Taxonomy • Species Description • Scientific Name • Alt. Names • Similar Herps • References • Conservation Status

Red: Range in California

Click on the map for a topographical view

Map with California County Names

Listen to this frog:

One short call

More Sounds of
California Treefrog

Baja California

Adult male, San Diego County

Adult, Riverside County

Adult, San Diego County

Adult male in breeding season, San Diego County

Adult, Los Angeles County

Adult, San Diego County

Pale adult, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County. © Randy Teets.

Adult, Santa Monica Mountains,
Ventura County © 2005 Brian Hubbs

Adult, San Bernardino County
© Jeff Ahrens

Adult, Santa Ana Mountains,
Orange County © Tadd Kraft

Adult, Santa Barbara County
© Ryan Sikola

Adult, San Gabriel Mountains,
Los Angeles County
© Grigory Heaton

Large group of adults, San Diego County. © Adam Clause.
California Treefrogs often assemble in large numbers like this at desert springs.

Adults hiding between a rock and a concrete bridge pillar, Los Angeles County © Matthew Sinkhorn

Adult, Los Angeles County

Adult, Ventura County © Joseph Cahill

This frog was found in an unburned yard after the Thomas fire burned much of the area. They're not a common yard inhabitant, so it's possible the frog moved to better habitat after the fire.

This close-up of the Ventura County treefrog shown to the left shows the rough toad-like texture of the skin of this species that helps it imitate its rough rocky habitat. © Joseph Cahill

Adult, San Diego County

Adult frogs on granite rocks next to a desert creek in San Diego County.
© Mark Gary
These photos show how well the markings of California Treefrogs allow them to blend in with their environment to avoid detection.

Adult, Ventura County © Mark Kroenke

Like most treefrogs, this species has enlarged rounded pads on its front toes that allow it to climb on steep surfaces.

Juveniles

Recently metamorphosed juvenile,
San Diego County

Juvenile, San Luis Obispo County
© Ryan Sikola

Adults in the Mating Season

Calling adult male, San Diego County

Adult male and female in amplexus,
San Diego County

Comparison with Similar Sympatric Species

Top: Baja California Treefrog (Pseudacris hypochondriaca)
Bottom: California Treefrog

Both frogs were found in the same creek in the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County.

The Baja California Treefrog has a
wide dark stripe through eye

The California Treefrog does not have a wide dark stripe through the eye

Eggs

"Eggs attached singly to sycamore leaf." "Material from Snow Creek, Riverside County, collected April 15, 1923."

From: Storer, Tracy I. A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California. University of California Press Berkeley, California 1925.

This is an extreme close-up of an egg containing a single developing tadpole that was found while conducting surveys in a Riverside County creek. It appears to be a California Treefrog based on the location and habitat and because it was laid individually and not part of an egg cluster. © Nathan Kudla

Tadpoles

Tadpole, San Diego County

Tadpole, Ventura County © Brian Hubbs

Tadpole, San Diego County

Mature tadpole with rear legs,
San Diego County

Tadpoles, Orange County © Jeff Ahrens

Unusually-pigmented tadpole, Santa Barbara County © Regan Sikola

Left: typically-pigmented tadpole
Right: unusually-pigmented tadpole Santa Barbara County © Regan Sikola

Predators

A juvenile Two-striped Gartersnake eating a young California Treefrog. © NPS

Habitat

Desert Oasis pool , San Diego County

Desert creek habitat, San Diego County

Habitat, seasonal creek, Santa Ana Mountains, Riverside County

Habitat, rocky creek, Riverside County

Habitat, small creek, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County

Habitat, riparian desert canyon,
Riverside County

Habitat, rocky creek, Riverside County
© Nathan Kudla

Desert palm oasis habitat,
Riverside County

Habitat, San Gabriel Mountains,
Los Angeles County

Habitat, San Diego County

Short Videos

A male calls on a windy night from the edge of a small pond in San Diego County. He makes three distinct sounds - a low call, then several higher-pitched calls followed by some ratcheting encounter calls, ending with another high-pitched call. Other calling California Treefrogs are heard in the background.

At night at a small pond in San Diego County, after I make an imitation of his call, a male frog repeatedly makes what appears to be his encounter call while aggressively moving towards the camera until he finally hops away. A Red-spotted Toad and other CA Treefrogs are heard in the background.

A male calls on a windy night from the edge of a small pond in San Diego County. Other calling California Treefrogs are heard in the background.

California Treefrog tadpoles in a shallow sunny pool in a slow-moving creek flowing through a San Diego County desert canyon.

Description

Size

Adults are 1.25 - 2.25 inches long from snout to vent ( 3.2 - 5.7 cm). (Stebbins & McGinnis, 2012)

Appearance

A small treefrog with webbing and expanded pads on the toes.

Color and Pattern

Skin is rough and cryptically colored: gray or brown with dark blotches, tending to match the habitat.
Usually there is no dark stripe through the eye as there is on the similar and sympatric Pseudacis hypochondriaca but there may be a vague stripe and juveniles sometimes have a more pronounced eye stripe.
The underside is whitish.
Rear legs, groin, and lower abdomen are yellow.

Male/Female Differences

Males have dusky coloring on the throat.

Larvae (Tadpoles)

Tadpoles grow up to about 1.5 inches in length (3.7 cm). (Stebbins & McGinnis, 2012)

Comparison with sympatric Baja California Treefrogs - Pseudacris hypochondriaca

Adults

Baja California Treefrogs have a dark stripe through each eye.
California Treefrogs do not have a dark stripe through each eye.
(Sometimes a faint stripe is presnet, and juveniles may have a more pronounced eye stripe that fades with age.)

Baja California Treefrogs are found in a variety of colors including greens, greys and browns.
California Treefrogs are gray or tan or brown with dark markings.

Tadpoles

Baja California Treefrog tadpoles have eyes that when seen from above are on the edge of the outline of the head.
California Treefrog tadpoles have eyes that, when viewed from above, are set barely within the outline of the head.

California Treefrog tadpoles have a flatter body than Baja California Treefrogs and a more acute snout.
(Stebbins & McGinnis, 2012)

Life History and Behavior

Activity

Nocturnal.
Takes shelter in shaded rock crevices or small depressions on boulders near water during the day.
Most commonly found along stream channels.
Outside of the breeding season, they do not spend much time in the water.
Inactive during very cold and very hot and dry periods.
Adults use spring and summer habitat near streams, then move to crevices higher above drainages in fall and winter, remaining mostly inactive from December to mid March.
Mark and recapture studies have shown that some females are found in the same location each year.

Defense

California Treefrogs and tadpoles rely on cryptic coloring to hide from predators. When disturbed, they jump into water, returning to the shore very quickly.

Territoriality

Males exhibit aggressive territorial behavior towards other males during the breeding season.

Longevity

Not known.

Voice (Listen)

Males make an advertisement call at night from the shore, from rocks, or floating vegetation mats, and occasionally from water.

The advertisement call is a loud quick low-pitched duck-like quacking that ends abruptly and is given repeatedly.
Males also produce a trilled encounter or warning call when interacting closely with other males of the species.

Diet and Feeding

Eats insects, spiders, centipedes and other invertebrates.
Typical of most frogs, the prey is located by vision, then a large sticky tongue is used to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat. Tadpoles feed on organic detritus and plant material.

Reproduction

Reproduction is aquatic.
Fertilization is external, with the male grasping the back of the female and releasing sperm as the female lays her eggs.
Amplexus is inguinal - the male grasps the female around her waist.

The reproductive cycle is similar to that of most North American Frogs and Toads. Mature adults come into breeding condition and move to ponds or ditches where the males call to advertise their fitness to competing males and to females. Males and females pair up in amplexus in the water where the female lays her eggs as the male fertilizes them externally. The adults leave the water and the eggs hatch into tadpoles which feed in the water and eventually grow four legs, lose their tails and emerge onto land where they disperse into the surrounding territory.

Adults appear to be reproductively mature at two years of age. Mature adults come into breeding condition and move to ponds or ditches where the males call to advertise their fitness to competing males and to females.

Mating and egg-laying occurs from early February to early October after the high-flow from seasonal storms starts to decrease. Males and females pair up in amplexus in the water where the female lays her eggs as the male fertilizes them externally. The adults leave the water and the eggs hatch into tadpoles which feed in the water and eventually grow four legs, lose their tails and emerge onto land where they disperse into the surrounding territory.

Eggs

Eggs are laid singly (but tend to stick together in clusters) and are attached to twigs, leaves, and other stationary debris on the bottom of quiet pools in still or slowly flowing water that is typically surrounded by rocks and boulders.
(Putting the eggs under water protects them from harmful solar UV-B rays.)

Tadpoles and Young

Tadpoles metamorphose 40 - 75 days after hatching.
For a short time, recently metamorphosed juveniles are often very common surrounding their natal pools, then they become scarce due to mortality or to their moving into other habitat.

Hybrids

"Probable natural adult hybrids between California treefrogs and Pacific treefrogs have been reported (Brattstrom and Warren, 1955; Gorman, 1960). However, attempts to hybridize these species in the laboratory have resulted in the production of inviable crosses that failed at the earliest stages of development (Maxon and Jameson, 1968; Ball and Jameson, 1970; Gaudin, 1979)." (Edward L. Ervin, Lannoo, 2005)

Habitat

Typically found around canyon streams and rocky washes with permanent quiet pools. Found in desert streams and palm oases, coastal streams, and up into the mountain pine belt. Coexists with P. hypochondriaca in some areas.

Geographical Range

Occurs in Coastal Southern California throughout the Coast Ranges from San Luis Obispo county south to and across the Transverse Ranges east to Joshua Tree National Park, and south through the Peninsular Ranges, including the desert slopes, into northern Baja California, Mexico.

Elevational Range

Found at elevations from near sea level to 7,500 ft. (2,290 m.) (Stebbins, 2003)

Notes on Taxonomy

The Generic name of this species was changed from Hyla (Treefrogs) to Pseudacris (Chorus Frogs). This creates confusion when some continue to use Treefrog as I do here, (along with the SSAR and the CNAH) because it has been used for many years, while others use Chorus Frog, which is actually more accurate.
(See comments on the use of yet another new genus Hyliola, directly below.)

Genus Hyliola

In a paper published April 2016 * William E. Duellman, Angela B. Marion & S. Blair Hedges present a new phylogenetic tree of hylid frogs (Family Hylidae Rafinesque, 1815) that consists of three families, nine subfamilies, and six resurrected generic names and five new generic names. The family Hylidae contains 7 subfamiles, based on molecular information, not necessarily morphologic characters. Using this tree, the four hylid species found in California become part of the subfamily Acridinae (Acridinae Mivart, 1869) which contains two genera, Pseudacris, and Hyliola (Hyliola Mocquard, 1899.) Our treefrogs (formerly placed in the genus Pseudacris) are placed in the genus Hyliola:

Hyliola cadaverina (Cope),
Hyliola hypochondriaca (Hallowell),
Hyliola regilla (Baird and Girard) &
Hyliola sierra (Jameson, Mackey, and Richmond.)

* William E. Duellman, Angela B. Marion & S. Blair Hedges. Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the treefrogs (Amphibia: Anura: Arboranae)
Zootaxa 4104 (1): 001–109 http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Copyright © 2016 Magnolia Press.

Alternate and Previous Names (Synonyms)

Pseudacris cadaverina (McGinnis & Stebbins 2018)
Hyliola cadaverina (Duellman, Marion, & Hedges 2016)
Pseudacris cadaverina - California Chorus Frog (California Treefrog) (Stebbins & McGinnis 2012)
Hyla cadaverina - California Treefrog (Stebbins 1985, 2003)
Hyla californiae - California Treefrog (Stebbins 1966)
Hyla arenicolor - Canyon Tree-Frog (Stebbins 1954
Hyla arenicolor - Canyon Tree Frog (Canyon Tree Toad, Desert Tree Toad, Cope's Hyla, Arizona Tree Frog, Sonoran Tree Toad) (Wright & Wright 1949)
Hyla arenicolor - Cañon Tree-toad (Storer 1925)
Hyla arenicolor - Arizona Tree-frog - Cope's Treepfrog, Tree-toad, Cope's Hyla, Sand-colored Tree Frog
(Grinnell and Camp 1917)
Hyla affinis (Baird 1854)

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

No known issues, although unpublished data suggests that some populations may be experiencing declines where non-native predatory fish have become established. (Ervin in Lanoo, 2005).
The effect of non-native aquatic predators - fish, caryfish, African Clawed Frogs, Bullfrogs - has not been determined.

Taxonomy
Family	Hylidae	Treefrogs	Laurenti, 1768
Genus	Pseudacris	Chorus Frogs	Fitzinger, 1843
Species	cadaverina	California Treefrog	(Cope, 1866)
Original Description
Originally Hyla cadaverina - Cope, 1866 - Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Ser. 2, Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 84 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Pseudacris - Greek - pseudes false, deceptive and Greek - akris locust - means "false Acris" with reference to genus Acris cadaverina - Latin - cadaver a corpse and -ina having the appearance of - refers to the pale corpse-like appearance in life of some morphs of this frog from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Related or Similar California Frogs
Pseudacris hypochondriaca - Baja CaliforniaTreefrog
More Information and References
California Department of Fish and Wildlife AmphibiaWeb Stebbins, Robert C., and McGinnis, Samuel M. Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Revised Edition (California Natural History Guides) University of California Press, 2012. Stebbins, Robert C. California Amphibians and Reptiles. The University of California Press, 1972. Flaxington, William C. Amphibians and Reptiles of California: Field Observations, Distribution, and Natural History. Fieldnotes Press, Anaheim, California, 2021. Samuel M. McGinnis and Robert C. Stebbins. Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles & Amphibians. 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018. Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998. Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Amphibians of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. Elliott, Lang, Carl Gerhardt, and Carlos Davidson. Frogs and Toads of North America, a Comprehensive Guide to their Identification, Behavior, and Calls. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Lannoo, Michael (Editor). Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, June 2005. Storer, Tracy I. A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California. University of California Press Berkeley, California 1925. Wright, Albert Hazen and Anna Wright. Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, 1949. Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995. Storer, Tracy I. A Synopsis Of The Amphibia of California. University of California Press, 1925. Joseph Grinnell and Charles Lewis Camp. A Distributional List of the Amphibians and Reptiles of California. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 127-208. July 11, 1917.

Conservation Status
The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the April 2024 State of California Special Animals List and the April 2024 Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California list (unless indicated otherwise below.) Both lists are produced by multiple agencies every year, and sometimes more than once per year, so the conservation status listing information found below might not be from the most recent lists. To make sure you are seeing the most recent listings, go to this California Department of Fish and Wildlife web page where you can search for and download both lists: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals. A detailed explanation of the meaning of the status listing symbols can be found at the beginning of the two lists. For quick reference, I have included them on my Special Status Information page. If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can also go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings. Check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife sport fishing regulations to find out if this animal can be legally pursued and handled or collected with possession of a current fishing license. You can also look at the summary of the sport fishing regulations as they apply only to reptiles and amphibians that has been made for this website. This frog is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the Dept. of Fish and Game.
Organization	Status Listing	Notes
NatureServe Global Ranking
NatureServe State Ranking
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Wildlife	None
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
IUCN

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