Common Mexican Tree Frog (Smilisca baudinii)

Common Name: Common Mexican Tree Frog or Baudin’s Tree Frog 
Scientific Name: Smilisca baudinii
Family: Hylidae – Tree Frog family
Locations: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States
US Location: Texas
Male Size: 3.77 inches (96 mm)
Female Size: 3 inches (76 mm)

The Common Mexican Tree Frog is found from the tip of Texas almost all the way through Central America. It seems like it be better to be named the Central American Tree Frog. They are the largest native tree frog to the United States, Cuban Tree Frogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis) are larger but are not native. This tree frog has a special gift. During the hot summer, the frog will make a cocoon around its body to keep itself from drying out.

The frogs breed at anytime of the year following enough rain fall. Breeding for the Common Mexican Tree Frog is pretty standard. The males migrate to shallows of water bodies and start to call. Once the female shows up, the male grasps her from behind in the amplexus position. Then, the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them. The female lays between 2,500-3,500 eggs.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies the frog as Least Concern for Extinction. The state of Texas lists them as a Threatened Species but there is no federal listing. In Texas, there are only small isolated populations of the frog while south of the border, the frog is very common.