Please distribute to Natural History groups and lists. Note...all correspondence and recordings should go to: matthew.schlesinger@ dec.ny.gov ...not to the address this email was sent from.
If you have a smart phone, we need you to record any "Wood Frog-like" calls right now and send them to: [email protected] (details below) Yep, you probably heard about the cool new described species of Leopard Frog from this past fall from the NYC area: *Rana kauffeldi* Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog *(a.k.a. The Coughing Frog)* *You can read about the Coughing Frog here:* http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Rana&where-species=kauffeldi http://peabody.yale.edu/collections/vertebrate-zoology/herpetology/atlantic-coast-leopard-frog http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?root=83078 Its known range appears to be East Coast Coastal Plain areas from Connecticut to the Carolinas...and potentially further....we need you to determine that range. The species has for years been lumped in with Southern Leopard Frogs in collections and often called Wood Frogs in calling surveys...so now that we know how to tell them apart we need your help to provide digital "vouchers" of where this species occurs, which will help everyone figure out its conservation status. This will be fun, you don't get a chance to do major conservation and discovery work like this often so make some extra effort to participate. No excuses. This species calls at the same time as Wood Frogs (aka Quacking Frogs) and they should be calling over the next 2 weeks (only a very short time) *Here are the calls of the Coughing Frog (calls are more like "coughs" or "chucks")* *(you could download to your cell!)* *http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1235601 <http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1235601>* *http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1235602 <http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1235602>* *Here are calls of Quacking Frogs (calls are more like sharp "quacks")* *http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1235606 <http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1235606>* All smart phones have a pretty good built in mike (so no excuses!). Sometimes you have to download a recording app, but most of the time they are built in. So, all you do is go out to open woodlands, flooded fields, freshwater marshes and listen for potential Coughing Frogs and record them if you can. Its not rocket science, but the closer you get the better. Hint: Sometimes Coughing Frogs can occur in large numbers. In particular check the floodplains of large rivers and the back freshwater marshes along saltwater bays. Any time from tonight through the next 2 weeks would be peak surveying time period. Send your emails and recording in to Matt Schlesinger: [email protected] Again, do not hit reply to this email...sent to Matt *"It was the saying of Bion, that though the boys throw stones* *at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest."* * - Plutarch*
