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纽约的青蛙和蟾蜍

大多数人都认识青蛙. 青蛙，像蝾螈和蝾螈一样，都是两栖动物. Unlike salamanders, they have made a major evolutionary detour from the body plan 他们古老的祖先. 青蛙的后腿比前腿大得多 尾巴消失了. 这允许一种新的运动方式，即跳跃， 这是躲避众多捕食者的有效方法. 因为他们离开了地面 get around, using scent to communicate with each other is not a viable option, as 这是给蝾螈的. 因此，青蛙是最会说话的脊椎动物之一 动物(鸟会飞，所以它们也会发出很多声音!). 纽约的青蛙掉进了 four major groups (families) linked by anatomy and other features of their biology.

蟾蜍

蟾蜍 are frogs that, due to the nature of their coarse dry skin, are adapted to spend 大部分时间生活在陆地上. 我们在两个不同的家族中有三种. 非常 common American toad is easily recognized by the warts all over its back and sides and by a pair of large bean-shaped glands are located just behind the head. 这些 腺体产生一种温和的毒素，蟾蜍将其储存在膀胱中. 当被处理时，蟾蜍 will produce a copious urine with enough of this foul-tasting toxin to deter most 捕食者. As a consequence, toads do not need to be good leapers to escape their 敌人. 蟾蜍 begin breeding late in April when males begin producing their long, 而是音乐颤音. 人们可以通过同时吹口哨和哼唱来模仿这种叫声 time. 蟾蜍 use all sorts of water bodies to deposit their long strings of eggs. 自 hatching and tadpole development can be completed in as little as four to six weeks, 蟾蜍经常利用临时的水体来产卵. 这可能包括 水坑和很深的轮胎印装着水.

The similar Fowler's toad is found in the southeastern part of the state and on Long 岛. It has many warts in each of the dark spots on its back and sides, while the 美洲蟾蜍每个斑点有一到两个疣.

One representative of the spadefoot toad family reaches New York, although they are restricted to the sandy-soil pine habitats of Long 岛 and the Pine Bush near Albany. Spadefoots can be recognized by their rather smooth skin, vertical eye pupils, and 它们脚趾上用来挖洞的黑色硬皮. 他们花了很多钱 time underground and are most active on the surface at night following heavy spring 夏天的雨.

Treefrogs

The only true tree frog of New York, the gray treefrog, is common over the entire 地区. It is most often observed in late spring and early summer when the males make 它们特有的响亮的颤音叫声. 呼叫地点通常在较低的分支 靠近水边的树木. 它们有大而圆的趾垫，这使它们能够 即使在垂直的表面上也能保持抓地力. 成人大多是灰色带黑色 splotches but they can change their color pattern to a degree and may appear bright 从绿色到银色. 在它们的腿内侧有一道闪光的黄色.

The spring peeper is clearly one of the most common vertebrate animals in New York, found in nearly all forested habitats within a few miles of standing water. 虽然 few have actually seen one, nearly everyone has heard the distinct, and very loud, 看看这些小青蛙产的东西. 尽管它们属于树蛙家族，但窥视者 很少在树上发现吗. 在繁殖季节之外，它们可能会跳跃 沿着森林地面寻找昆虫. 这是多么大的飞跃啊，将近50倍 它们的一英寸半长! 在繁殖季节，雄性窥视者聚集在杂草中 池塘边的植被用来呼唤和吸引雌性交配.

卵单独附着在水下植物上，一周内孵化. 后 45-60 days, depending partly on water temperature, the tadpoles emerge 从水里 栖息在森林的落叶中. 树蛙科的其他成员包括 the northern cricket frog, found in a few areas south of the Catskills, and the western chorus frog, which occurs along the western Lake Ontario plain and the Watertown area.

典型的青蛙

The bullfrog is the clear winner in the size department among New York frogs, attaining 从鼻子到尾骨长度为7英寸. 他们用低频的“朗姆酒”来称呼他们 produce is familiar to all May and June visitors of the 地区's lakes and ponds.

Like all amphibians, bullfrogs are carnivorous and they will attempt to eat anything 那正好能塞进他们的大嘴巴. 这包括昆虫、蛇和其他 青蛙，甚至鸟类和哺乳动物. 像大多数青蛙一样，牛蛙是视觉捕食者 and will react by orienting their bodies towards any small movements around them. If you see a frog catch an insect, look closely and it seems like it closes its eyes 当它吞下. 附着在眼球上的小肌肉把眼球拉向背部 它的喉咙和帮助迫使食物进入胃.
One of the most common mid-sized frogs across New York is the green frog. 他们可以 be superabundant in marshes, ponds, lakes, and quiet backwaters of streams if their 昆虫的食物供应也很充足. 雄性绿蛙，比如牛蛙， have visible eardrums on the side of their heads that are bigger in diameter than 他们的眼睛. 雌性的耳膜比眼睛小. 绿青蛙至少可以 six vocalizations, but the most often heard is the advertisement call of the male. 它被比作拨动班卓琴的琴弦.

Mink frogs may be found in the colder waters of northern New York, primarily in the 阿迪朗达克. 它们是一种小青蛙，乍一看很容易与青蛙混淆 更常见的绿色青蛙. 仔细检查斑驳的花纹 folded hind limbs, which appears random in mink frogs and continuous in green frogs, 将两者区分开来. 之后你的手上会有强烈的麝香气味 你放一只出来就能确认是水貂蛙.

Before winter is officially over, and often while there is still ice on the ponds, a sound like quacking ducks may be heard in forest ponds and beaver flows. 这是 the wood frog, the first of the New York amphibians to make an appearance each year.

Wood frogs hibernate in the leaf litter of the forest floor, usually just a few inches 在表面之下. 科学家们已经了解到，这些青蛙，以及春天 peeper and gray treefrog, can tolerate partial freezing of their body tissues, a condition 这对大多数动物来说是致命的. 他们通过两种方法来做到这一点. 第一个 entails the use of antifreeze compounds, including the same ethylene glycol we put in our automobiles, that circulates in their blood and lowers the freezing point. The second mechanism involves removing much of the water from their cells so it doesn't 在细胞内冻结. 当水结冰时，它会膨胀，形成冰 容易破坏细胞膜.

Wood frogs possess a distinctive black patch around the eyes on an otherwise brown body. Wood frogs are found throughout the forested parts of New York and may be observed 离水很远. 有两种常见的黑斑蛙 纽约，经常并排在池塘边. 北方豹蛙是浅棕色的 to bright green with dark round spots, each with a light border, found irregularly 在背上和腿上. 琵琶蛙的底色较浅，呈方形 没有浅色边界的斑点出现在背部的两排. 经常会有 在琵琶蛙的大腿上有明显的黄色闪光. 两人都很喜欢 of the grassy and weedy borders of ponds, and are often found quite some distance 从水里. 它们早春断断续续的叫声听起来像特别响亮的鼾声 这两个物种可以通过叫声的音调来区分.

生态角色

Like most organisms, frogs are vital links between food web feeding levels because 它们是许多其他生物的重要食物来源. 然而，青蛙扮演着独特的角色 role in connecting aquatic and terrestrial food webs, due to their two lifestyles. All New York frogs start life as aquatic tadpoles, feeding on plant and animal material 在水里. When they metamorphose into air-breathing adults, they carry some of this aquatic energy stored in their bodies and export it onto land, where it can enter 新的食物链.

在纽约发现的蛙类清单

• 东部犁足
• 美洲蟾蜍
• 福勒的蟾蜍
• 北方蟋蟀蛙(受威胁)
• 北方灰树蛙
• 柯普的灰树蛙
• 北春窥视者
• 高地合唱蛙
• 西方合唱团青蛙
• 牛蛙
• 绿色的小青蛙
• 貂青蛙
• 树蛙
• 北豹蛙
• 南豹蛙(特别关注)
• 小梭鱼青蛙

推荐阅读:

罗杰·柯南特和约瑟夫·T. 柯林斯. 1991. 爬行动物和两栖动物野外指南: 北美东部和中部. 霍顿米夫林公司.马萨诸塞州波士顿. 450 p.

托马斯·F·泰宁. 1990. 《网赌平台》. 利特尔布朗公司.、波士顿. 400 p.

学分:

作者:Glenn Johnson，环境与森林生物学，博彩平台esf. 说明 作者:梅琳达·格雷·阿迪亚和丽莎·科比特.