The zoo story is wrong, but the frog is new.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080112_1_A2_hNewf08411It's not easy being seen By ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer
1/12/2008
New frog species leaps into view in Oklahoma
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums named 2008 the "Year of the Frog." Perhaps they should rename it the "year of the new frog."
The Center for North American Herpetology, based in Lawrence, Kan., announced Thursday the discovery of a new species of frog that's native to eastern Oklahoma: the Cajun chorus frog.
The frog is little -- about an inch long -- but has a deafening chirp when joined by a chorus of others. Here's your guide to Oklahoma's newly discovered amphibian:
The discovery: While credited to the scientists Thursday, the initial discovery came in 2001. The four co-discoverers are Emily Moriarty Lemmon and her husband, Alan Lemmon, both of the University of California-Davis; Joseph Collins, director of the Center for North American Herpetology; and David Cannatella, curator of herpetology at the Texas Memorial Museum.
"There's a sense of accomplishment in just discovering a new frog," Collins said. "It's what we live for as biologists -- new discoveries -- especially in an area as well-studied as the United States." The Cajun Chorus: It was a dark night north of Baton Rouge following a heavy rain in 2001. The co-discoverers were on a frog hunt amid a loud Cajun country chorus by many, many frogs.
"The frogs were calling like crazy that night," Moriarty Lemmon recalls. "All of the sudden, this light came on in a house across the street. . . . Someone came stomping out saying, 'What're you all doing over here?'" The scientists explained that they were looking for frogs in the ditch, holding up a collection of the tiny chirpers. This confused the man, and Moriarty Lemmon said he responded:
"What you all doing that for? They're too small to eat!" Green frogs love Green Country: Cajun chorus frogs like areas with little water, where fish will not eat them. Shallow water in deep ditches is ideal. However, during breeding season in late winter and early spring, these frogs will go to ponds and chirp loudly together. Weather in the 50s and 60s at this time of year makes Oklahoma an ideal home for the frogs.
Chirping call: The one distinguishing factor for this frog species is its call, Moriarty Lemmon said. "Take a metal comb; run your finger along it," she said. The picking noise increases slowly in pitch and is long and drawn out, like a Southern drawl, Collins said. When combined with thousands of other Cajun chorus frogs, the noise is deafening.
Finding the frog: While the frogs are common in the south-central United States, they are tiny and hard to find without their distinctive chirp. The only good time to find the species is during breeding season. Ideal situations for frog hunting are at night after rainfall when temperatures are in the 50s and 60s.
Keeping your "canaries in the creek": To keep your insect-eating friends around, Moriarty Lemmon said it is important to limit the spread of pesticides, as it can get into nearby water sources. When trying to map out the frogs' habitats, the researchers noticed that areas around cotton fields and other agricultural areas had fewer frogs than other places, she said. Also, she agrees with the Louisiana man that it wouldn't be a good idea to have a frog feast with them, tiny size aside. "They probably taste bitter," she said.
