Barking Frog (Craugastor augusti)

An Annotated Bibliography of the Barking Frog
(Craugastor augusti)

Compiled by Tom Lott [TEL] - Last updated on 17 January 2016

[These bibliographies and their annotations are an on-going project. I have many comments on papers that I have not yet posted but I will attempt to attend to this task as time allows. Comments proffered in the annotations are strictly my own opinions and should be taken as such. If you wish to comment or supply additional references that I have overlooked, you may contact me via E-mail. To correspond with me, I may be reached at:  tomlott[at]thornscrub[dot]com.  Thanks for reading, Tom Lott ]

Axtell, R. W. 1959b. Amphibians and reptiles of the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area, Brewster County, Texas. Southwest. Nat. 4(2): 88-109.  [Under "Questionable Forms," is the following: "The barking frog was absent from the Area; they were not heard and a description of their call was unfamiliar to the local inhabitants.  The low elevation, general aridity, and the prevailing drought may have excluded them locally." - TEL]

Bartlett, R.D. and P.P. Bartlett. 1999b.  A Field Guide to Texas Reptiles and Amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas.

Bezy, R.I., W.C. Sherbrooke, and C.H. Lowe. 1966.  The rediscovery of Eleutherodactylus augusti in Arizona.  Herpetologica 22: 221-225.

Blair, W.F. 1949. The biotic provinces of Texas. Texas J. Sci. 2(1):93-117.

Boulenger, G.A. 1894b. Third report on additions to the lizard collection in the Natural History Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1894: 640.

Brown, B.C. 1950. An annotated check list of the reptiles and amphibians of Texas. Waco, Tex.:Baylor Univ. Studies.

Cochran, D.M. 1961. Type specimens of reptiles and amphibians in the United States National Museum. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 220:1-291.

Conant, R. 1958. A field guide to the reptiles and amphibians of the United States and Canada east of the 100^th meridian. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

_________. 1975. A field guide to the reptiles and amphibians: Eastern and central North America. 2^nd edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

_________. and J.T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians of eastern-central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

_______________________. 1998. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians of eastern-central North America, 3^rd edition (expanded). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Cope, E.D. 1878a. A Texas cliff frog. Am. Nat. 12: 186.  .  [Apparently not actually written by Cope, this very brief article refers to Craugastor latrans rather than S. marnockii - TEL] [PDF]

_________. 1889. The Batrachia of North America. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 34: 1-525.

Dayton, G.H., Skiles, R. and L. Dayton. 2007.  Frogs and Toads of Big Bend National Park.  College Station: Texas A&M Press.  [Although among the works cited by Dixon (2013) for this species, the Barking Frog is unknown from Big Bend and is not mentioned in this work. - TEL]

Degenhardt, W.G., Painter, C.W. and A. H. Price 1996. Amphibians and reptiles of New Mexico. Univ. New Mexico Press, 431 pp.

Dickerson, M.C. 1931. The frog book.  Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran.

Dixon, J.R. 1987. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas. College Station: Texas A&M Press.

_________. 1993. Supplement to the literature for the Amphibians and reptiles of Texas, 1987. Smithson. Herpetol. Info. Serv.  94:1-43.

________. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas. (2^nd edition). College Station: Texas A&M Press    [Includes 50 literature citations for this species- from which most of these were initially drawn; as well as a county-based distribution map. - TEL]

________. 2013. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas. 3rd Ed. W. L. Moody, Jr., Nat. Hist. Ser. 25. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.  [As Eleutherodactylus (Craugastor) augusti, with subspecies latrans.  Provides 64 literature citations.  Notes that it is continuously distributed along the Balcones Escarpment but exists in isolated populations elsewhere. Includes color photos of a juvenile from Edwards County and an adult from Bandera County. Range map now includes Sutton and Kinney counties. - TEL]

Enderson, E.F. 2002.  Geographic distribution: Eleutherodactylus augusti cactorum (western barking frog).  Herpetol. Rev. 33: 316.

Finch, R.C. 1962. S.S.S. reports on the Bat-Well.  Tex. Caver 7: 726-729.

Fouquette, M.J., Jr. 1960. Call structure in frogs of the family Leptodactylidae. Tex. J. Sci. 12(3-4): 210-215.

Garrett, J.M. and D.G. Barker. 1987. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Texas. Austin: Texas Monthly Press.

Gehlbach, F.R. And J.K. Baker. 1962. Kingsnakes allied with Lampropeltis mexicana: Taxonomy and natural history.  Copeia 1962 (2): 291-300.  [Mentioned that this frog, along with Syrrhophus marnockii, had been collected in the Dunbar Cave sinkhole in Edwards County, Texas, where a specimen of Lampropeltis alterna was found by the junior author. - TEL]

Goldberg, C.S. 2002. Habitat, spatial population structure, and methods for monitoring barking frogs (Eleutherodactylus augusti) in southern Arizona. M.S. thesis, University of Arizona, Tucson. Pp. 1-56

____________. 2003.  Barking Frog, Eleutherodactylus augusti (Dugés, 1879 in Brocchi, 1882). Son. Herp.

16(7):  54-56

____________., and C.R. Schwalbe. 2004a. Considerations for monitoring a rare anuran (Eleutherodactylus augusti).  Southwestern Naturalist 49: 442– 448.

____________., and C.R. Schwalbe. 2004b.  Habitat and spatial population structure of barking frogs (Elutherodactylus augusti) in southern Arizona. J. of Herpetol. 38: 26-33.

____________., B.K. Sullivan, J.H. Malone, and C.R. Schwalbe. 2004c. Divergence among barking frogs (Eleutherodactylus augusti) in the southwestern United States. Herpetologica 60: 312– 320.  ["Barking frogs in each of the three states {TX, NM, and AZ}have distinct coloration and differ in sexually dimorphic characters, female vocalization, and skin toxicity. . . .  Advertisement calls of frogs from Arizona were significantly longer in duration, higher in frequency, and had longer duration pulses than those of frogs from either New Mexico or Texas . . . .  Phylogenetic analysis showed deep divisions among barking frogs from the three states.  Differences in call structure, coloration, and mitochondrial DNA sequences strongly suggest that barking frogs in Arizona are reproductively isolated from those in New Mexico and Texas.  Our results indicate that either northern populations are connected via gene flow through southern Mexico (i.e., they are subspecies as currently recognized), or represent independent lineages as originally described. " - TEL]

Graham, S. P., S. Stevens, and C. Kelehear. 2015. Geographic distribution CRAUGASTOR AUGUSTI (Barking Frog).  Herpetol. Rev. 46(4): 558. [Brewster County record.  "There is a previous record for Craugastor augusti to the southeast from adjacent Terrell Co., Texas (SRSU-A 119; Joe Chandler Ranch near Dryden; 04-17- 1964; SRSU records). However, given that Brewster Co. is larger than the state of Rhode Island, our new record represents a sub­stantial (~ 120 km) range extension to the west for C. augusti in this region of Texas." - TEL]

Hampton, N. 1976. Annotated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Travis County, Texas. Pp. 84-101 in A bird finding and naturalist's guide for Austin, Texas, area. Edited by E. Kutac and S. Caran. Austin, Tex.: Oasis Press.

Holman, J.A. 1969c. The Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles of Texas. Publ. Mich. State Mus. Biol. Ser. 1(6): 203-60.

Jameson, D.L. 1949.  The Ecological Life History of Eleutherodactylus latrans in the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas.  M.A. Thesis, University of Texas.

____________. 1950.  The development of Eleutherodactylus latrans.  Copeia 1950: 44-46.

____________. 1954. Social patterns in the leptodactylid frogs Syrrhophus and Eleutherodactylus. Copeia1954 (1): 36-38.

Kellog, R. 1932. Mexican tailless amphibians in the United States Nation Museum.  Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 160: 1-224. 

Koster, W.J. 1946.  The robber frog in New Mexico.  Copeia 1946: 73.

Lynch, J.D. 1986.  The definition of the Middle American clade of Eleutherodactylus based on jaw musculature (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae).  Herpetologica 42: 248-258.

Malnate, Edmond V. 1971.  A Catalog of Primary Types in the Herpetological Collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (ANSP).  Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.  123: 345-375 
["Lithodytes latrans Cope 1880.  Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 17: 25.
             Syntypes:  (2)  ANSP 10757-58; Texas, Bexar County, Helotes; G. W. Marnock.
             Remarks:  See Zweifel (1967: 41.2-3) for comments on the syntypes listed here
              and by Cochran, 1961: 75." - TEL]

Malone, J.H. 2001a.  Geographic distribution.  Eleutherodactylus augusti (barking frog).  Herpetol. Rev. 32(2): 113.  [Kinney County record, from Kickapoo State Park. - TEL]

McAlister, W. 1954. Natural history notes on the barking frog. Herpetologica 10(3): 197-199.

Mecham, J.S. 1959a. Some Pleistocene amphibians and reptiles from Friesenhahn Cave, Texas.  Southwest. Nat. 3: 17-27.  [Reported on a scapula likely of this species obtained from late Pleistocene deposits in a cave in Bexar County, located on Cibolo Creek, 21 miles north of San Antonio. - TEL]

Milstead, W.W., J.S. Meacham, and H. McClintock. 1950. The amphibians and reptiles of the Stockton Plateau in northern Terrell County, Texas. Tex. J. Sci. 2(4): 543-562.  [No specimens of the barking frog were actually collected.  While hunting Syrrhophus at night on June 8, two distinct barks were heard from a distant canyon.  These were probably made by a barking frog, since the probability of a dog or a coyote in that area is slight.  Joe Chandler described 'a lizard that barks like a bulldog' and other ranchers also told of barking lizards.  These are doubtless Eleutherodactylus, as the ranchers of the Edwards Plateau ascribe the call of the barking frog to a lizard (Gerrhonotus liocephalus). - TEL]

____________. 1960b. Relict Species of the Chihuahuan Desert. Southwest. Nat. 5(2):75-88.  [Considered a relict species of the Chihuahuan Desert on the basis of having been recorded from two localities in Mexico (5 mi. S Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila {Schmidt and Owens 1944} and 10 mi. W Naranjos, San Luis Potosi {Smith and Taylor 1948} as well as probable on the Stockton Plateau, Terrell County, Texas {Milstead et al. 1950} - TEL]

Morafka, D.J. 1977. A biogeographical analysis of the Chihuahuan desert through its herpetofauna. Biogeographica 9: 1-313.

Murray, I., and C.W. Painter. 2003.  Geographic distribution.  Eleutherodactylus augusti.  Herpetol. Rev. 34: 161. [Record  from Aguirre Springs Campground, Organ Mountains, Dona Ana County, New Mexico, a range extension of ~89 miles to the WNW of previous records, and in habitat similar to that occupied by Texas and Arizona specimens. -TEL]

Noble, G.K. 1925. An outline of the relation of ontogeny to phylogeny within the Amphibia, I.  Am. Mus. Novit. 165: 1-10.

Olson, R.E. 1959.  Notes on some Texas herptiles.  Herpetologica 15: 48.

Owen, J.G. 1989. Patterns of herpetofaunal species richness : Relation to temperature, precipitation, and variance in elevation. J. Biogeogr. 16:141-150.

_________. and J.R. Dixon. 1989. An ecogeographic analysis of the herpetofauna of Texas. Southwest Nat. 34(2): 165-180.

Parmley, D. 1988b. Middle Holocene herpetofauna of Klein Cave, Kerr County, Texas. Southwest. Nat. 33(3): 378-382.  [Two ilia, presumably of this species, were found in late Pleistocene/early Holocene deposits in this cavern located ca. 20 km WSW of Mountain Home, Kerr County. - TEL]

Piatt, J. 1934.  The systematic status of Eleutherodactylus latrans.  Am. Midl. Nat. 15: 89-91.

Radke, M.F. 1998. Ecology of the barking frog (Eleutherodactylus augusti) in Chaves County, New Mexico.  Report to New Mexico Dept. of Game and Fish.  Share with wildlife.  Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Reddell, J.R. 1961. The caves of Comal County.  Tex. Speleol. Surv. 2: 1-60.

__________. 1970. A checklist of the cave fauna of Texas. VI. Additional records of Vertebrata. Tex. J. Sci. 22(2-3): 139-158.

_________., and O. Knox. 1962. The caves of Bexar County. J. Tex. Speleol. Soc. 1(4): 1-38.  [Scans of the spirit master original note that this cave was visited on two occasions in 1949 by David L. Jameson, apparently in association with work toward his Masters Degree (Jameson 1949).  He collected thirteen barking frogs, several Syrrhophus marnocki, two "leopard frogs", a Bufo punctatus, and a Bufo valliceps.  Plethodon salamanders were described as "numerous."  It is noted also that two copperheads had been removed from the cave earlier. - TEL]
[PDF]  


_________., and A.R. Smith. 1965. The caves of Edwards County.  Tex. Speleol. Surv. 2:1-70.

Riemer, W.J., and H.G. Dowling. 1963 et seq. Catalogue of American amphibians and reptiles.  New York: American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology. 

Rorabaugh, J. 2004. Barking frogs (Eleutherodactylus augusti) of the Santa Rita Mountains. Sonoran Herpetologist 17: 72– 73.

Schmidt, K.P. 1953. A checklist of North American amphibians and reptiles. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Schwalbe, Cecil R. and Caren S. Goldberg. 2005.  Eleutherodactylus augusti (Duges, 1879) Barking Frog. in Lannoo, Michael, ed., Amphibian Declines: the conservation status of United States species.  Berkeley: Univ. of Cal. Press, pp. 491-492. [Provides a summary of: 1) Historical versus current distribution - giving a taxonomic history and current problems; lists fossil localities in Bexar and Kerr counties, in Texas; notes lack of reports of extirpations from former localities; 2) Historical versus current abundance - notes that abundance in Huachuca Mountains has remained steady; 3) Life history features - cites substantial older data from Texas and newer information from Arizona; and 4) Conservation - notes that this species has no state or federal protection in the areas where it occurs in the U.S.  Generally a good summary of current information except for a range map that is shaded by counties but which includes a number of counties from which it is unknown. - TEL]

_________., B. Alberti and M. Gilbert. 1997.  The limestone troll.  Bajada 5: 1

Scudday, J.F. 1965b.  Eleutherodactylus latrans in Terrell County, Texas.  Southwest Nat. 10: 78.

Seifert, W. 1978a.  Geographic distribution. Hylactrophryne augusti latrans.  Herpetol. Rev. 9: 61.  [Ward County record, Pyote Air Force Base.  "Collected in a sump pump hole in the machine room of the abandoned base.  The surrounding area is flat and has red sandy soil with mesquite (Prosophis glandulosa) and creosotebrush (Larrea divaricata) being the dominant vegetation.  Numerous gopher (Geomys) burrows may be the only natural habitat for these frogs.  This specimen is a link between the New Mexico and Texas specimens and its locality falls on the question mark of Conant's (1975 . . . .) range map." - TEL]

Slevin, J.R. 1931. Range extensions of certain western species of reptile and amphibians.  Copeia 1931: 140-141.

Smith, H. M., and H. K. Buechner. 1947. The influence of the Balcones Escarpment on the distribution of am phibians and reptiles in Texas. Bull. Chi. Acad. Sci. 8(1): 1-16.

___________ and E.H. Taylor. 1948. An annotated checklist and key to the amphibia of Mexico.  Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 194:1-118.

Stebbins, R.C. 1951.  Amphibians of western North America.  Berkeley:  Univ. Cal. Press.

____________. 1954. Amphibians and reptiles of western North America.  New York: McGraw-Hill.

____________. 1966. A field guide to western reptiles and amphibians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Strecker, J.K. 1902.  Reptiles and batrachians of McLennan County, Texas.  Proc. Tex. Acad. Sci. 4, Pt.2(5): 95 -101.

___________. 1908b.  A preliminary annotated list of the Batrachia of Texas.  Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 21: 53-62.

____________. 1908c. The reptiles and batrachians of McLennan County, Texas.  Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 21: 69-84.

____________. 1910c. Studies in North American batrachology.  Notes on the robber frog (Lithodytes latrans Cope).  Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 19:73-82.

____________. 1922. An annotated catalog of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bull. Sci. Soc. San Antonio 4:1-31.  ["This interesting amphibian was described from specimens collected at Helotes by Marnock.  Judging from the number of fine examples in the Marnock collection, it is not at all uncommon." Includes a "natural size" b/w photo, labeled "Robber Frog."- TEL]

____________. 1928e.  Common English and folk names for Texas amphibians and reptiles.  Contr. Baylor Univ. Mus. 16:1-21.

____________. 1933. Collecting at Helotes, Bexar County, Texas. Copeia 1933(2): 77-79.  [A posthumously published article.  "Here, within a stone's throw of his home, he {Marnoch} discovered the type specimens of the frogs described by Cope under the name Lithodytes (now Eleutherodactylus) latrans and Syrrhophus marnockii, the skink Eumeces brevilineatus Cope, the little variegated gecko many years later named Coleonyx brevis by Dr. Stejneger. . . .
              "Later in the year, in early November, . . . I again visited the place. . . . One Eleutherodactylus latrans, a junior 16 mm. in length of head and body, was also found under a stone. The date of its capture and the size of the animal suggest that, even in the Helotes neighborhood, this species may not always be a winter breeder as was suggested to Cope by Marnock. This specimen is peculiarly marked. It has a broad white band across the lower back, a white band across each arm, and a white spot on each eyelid. Across the back of the head is a well defined Greek cross also white in color. A somewhat similar specimen, but larger and not so conspicuously marked, is in the Baylor University collection. This specimen will, I believe, be described in detail by Dr. Albert Hazen Wright in his forthcoming book on the frogs of North America. All of the other young specimens of this frog which have been examined by me, were marked essentially like adults." - TEL]

____________. 1935f.  The reptiles of West Frio Canyon, Real County, Texas.  Baylor Univ. Bull. 38:32.

____________ and W.J. Williams. 1927. Herpetological records from the vicinity of San Marcos, Texas, with distributional data on the amphibians and reptiles of the Edwards Plateau region and Central Texas. Contr. Baylor Univ. Mus. 12: 1-16.

Streicher, Jeffrey W. and Matthew K. Fujita. 2014. Observations on the captive maintenance and reproduction of the Balcones Barking Frog, Craugastor augusti latrans.  Herpetol. Rev. 45(1): 49-51. [The authors collected a series of 18 adult barking frogs from Bandera, Edwards, and Real counties by road cruising immediately after heavy spring rains.  Frogs were maintained in individual plastic shoeboxes inside a walk-in environmental chamber at 22^oC, with a 12:12 light cycle, maintained at 40% humidity.  Frogs were sexed based upon calling (males) and eggs visible through the ventral surface (females).  A female frog, placed in a larger enclosure with a male began constructing a nest by moving soil and moss substrate into a PVC sewer pipe in the cage and compressing it using her body and limbs.  Oviposition, amplexus, or other reproductive interactions between the two frogs were not witnessed.  The female frog attended the nest within the PVC pipe continuously from 21 April until 4 June.  The male did not attend the nest and was observed entering it only in the pursuit of food.  The male and water dish was removed before the froglets hatched.  On 4 June 119 froglets were found in the enclosure with the female and further investigation revealed a nest cavity at the rear of the PVC pipe with three undeveloped eggs, making the total clutch 122. 
              The froglets were maintained in groups of ten in circular deli containers with a substrate similar that that in the adults cages.  Froglets were offered - and apparently ate - wingless fruit flies, pinhead crickets, and occasionally a larger flightless fruit fly (Drosophila hydei).  By 10 August, however, 75% of the hatchlings had died for no apparent reason.  The remaining 30 froglets were described as growing and thriving. 
              An important report that brings into question previously asserted  male nest attendance (Jameson 1950), while verifying large clutch sizes, female nest attendance and construction behaviors.  The authors acknowledge that their observations of frogs from a relative humid extreme of the species' range may not extend to those populations occupying more xeric areas. - TEL]

Taylor, E.H. 1938b. New species of Mexican tailless Amphibia.  Univ. Kan. Sci. Bull. 25: 385-399.

Taylor, E.H. 1947.  A bibliography of Mexican amphibiology.  Univ. Kans. Sci. Bull. 34:543-589.

Tipton, B.L., Hibbitts, T.L., Hibbitts, T.J., Hibbitts, T.D. and T.J. LaDuc. 2012. Texas Amphibians: A Field Guide. University of Texas Press: Austin, 2012.  Softcover.  325 pp. 

Valett, B.B. and D.L. Jameson. 1961.  The embryology of  Eleutherodactylus augusti latrans.  Copeia 1961: 103-109.

Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright. 1938. Amphibians of Texas. Proc. Trans. Tex. Acad. Sci. 21(2): 5-44.

___________________________. 1949. Handbook of frogs and toads of the United States and Canada. Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Publishing Co.   

Yarrow, H.C. 1882.  Checklist of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in the U.S. National Museum.  Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. 24: 1-249. 

Zweifel, R.G. 1956b.  A survey of the frogs of the augusti group, genus Eleutherodactylus.  Am. Mus. Novit. 1813: 1-35.  [A morphological analysis of frogs from throughout the range concluded that, despite some differences in coloration and morphology, all fell into the various subspecies of E. augusti. - TEL]

__________. 1959b.  Variation in and distribution of lizards of western Mexico related to Cnemidophorus sacki.  Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 117: 61-116.

__________. 1967.  Eleutherodactylus augusti.  Cat. Am. Amphib. Rept. 41: 1-4.