>>One more thing: the Pseudacris species breed in cool/cold weather, so they might be less likely to call in your home than would the warm-weather-breeding Hyla species.>>



That is not quite true. Pseudacris is, as W.E. Duellman (1970, Hylid Frogs of Middle America) pointed out, only different from most North American and Central American species of Hyla in having "small discs and greatly reduced webbing on the feet" and that these frogs would not have been recognized generically if they occurred in South America.



Right now, there are some taxonomists who insist on expanding Pseudacris to include several species previously placed in Hyla, such as Hyla regilla and Hyla cadaverina. That act destroyed whatever uniqueness the genus Pseudacris had, making it no longer distinguishable from Hyla and calling into question why it is necessary to continue recognizing Pseudacris. Since reduced discs and greatly reduced webbing are not found in Hyla cadaverina or Hyla regilla, the genus Pseudacris is currently undiagnosable. These taxonomists then attempted to invent a new defining character for this genus, which is "cold weather breeding." But that redefinition is unsatisfactory, because how cold is "cold?" Several species of Pseudacris live in the southeastern USA, where freezing weather is rare, and Hyla cadaverina lives in southern California, where freezing weather is equally rare. Hyla cadaverina in fact has an extended breeding season, from Feb. to Oct. according to Stebbins. So, how is "Pseudacris cadaverina" a cold weather breeder if it breeds throughout the hot Southern California summer? And if Pseudacris is really undefinable and heterogeneous, then why bother recognizing it?



IMO, it is better to simply transfer all species known as Pseudacris back to Hyla than to lump Hyla regilla and Hyla cadaverina with Pseudacris in a heterogeneous, undiagnosable genus. Further, there is ample evidence that Hyla regilla and H. cadaverina are not nested within the clade of chorus frogs. In sum, it does not make any sense to classify H. regilla and H. cadaverina in Pseudacris.

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