Osteological development of Cope's Gray Treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis

Abstract

AbstractHyla chrysoscelis, Cope's Gray Treefrog, is a generalized treefrog found throughout much of east‐central North America. Although it is a model for many behavioural and ecological studies, little is known of its skeletal morphology or development. Herein, we describe the postembryonic skeletal development and adult osteology of H. chrysoscelis. The adult skull is well ossified with slight dermal ornamentation, the postcranial and tadpole skeletons are fairly non‐distinct with no obvious novel morphologies, and the Gosner stage by which bony elements first appear varies. We compare the rank order sequence of ossification to that of its sibling species Hyla versicolor and use examples from this study to demonstrate current complications with conducting ossification sequence meta‐analyses.