Lowland Burrowing Treefrog

Open encyclopedia reference

The lowland burrowing tree frog or northern casquehead frog (Smilisca fodiens) is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is found in south-central Arizona, the United States, and southward along the coastal plain and foothills to Western and South-Central Mexico. Its natural habitats are open mesquite grassland and tropical scrub forests at elevations from near sea level to about 1,490 m (4,890 ft) above sea level. It is a burrowing frog that is common in rain-filled temporary pools, its breeding habitat. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by agricultural development. However, many well-preserved populations have been recorded.

Wikipedia contributors, Lowland burrowing tree frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:42:13.542232+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Smilisca fodiens (Boulenger, 1882)

Name authority

(Boulenger, 1882)

Common name

Lowland Burrowing Treefrog

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Anura

Family

Hylidae

Genus

Smilisca

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAmphibia
9. orderAnura
10. familyHylidae Rafinesque, 1815
11. genusSmilisca Cope, 1865
12. speciesSmilisca fodiens (Boulenger, 1882)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Smilisca. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 590 records assigned to Hylidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=774570 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4XWY4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.