Grey tree frogs - interbreeding?

[Bombina Bob]

this might be possible, the genetics and alleles are very similar.

[Jayzie Greenfrog]

Thanks, It looks like it might be a case of waiting and letting nature do whatever it is going to do, if that makes sense! I was was just wondering if anyone has any experience with their own mixed group!

[Bombina Bob]

If they do breed, their offspring would be infertile because of the genetic code. Same thing with a donkey and horse, mix the two and you get a mule

[Jayzie Greenfrog]

I hadnt thought of that but it sounds right unfortunately. Then of course I have no way of knowing if someone had the same problem my captive bred babies could be from mixed stock?! I am right am I that there is no easy way to tell the two species apart?

[Bombina Bob]

the two are very hard to tell apart if not impossible, Im not 100% sure if you can even tell them apart but now that i have done specific research, they wont crossbreed i apologize The copes and gray have the same call but the cope's has a slower pace. The females will be attracted to specific members of their own species. I did not even think of that before!

[UncleChester]

They will hybridize in nature. If you have access to jstor, here's an article JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie (there are many other papers on hybridization of north american hylids). It also looks like the hybrid offspring keep some fertility (end of the first paragraph of that article).

Telling them apart is easy with a calling male. You can find sound recordings here: ARMI - Frog and Toad Calls

Otherwise chromosome count or comparison of blood cell sizes (and I think also the cells that make up the 'sticky' bits on the toes) I think are the way to go but not really practical for most people.

[Jayzie Greenfrog]

Hi Ryan and Brian your comments and interest are much appreciated. I had hoped to get a breeding group going but it looks like things are going to be rather complicated!! I have spent much of the afternoon comparing recordings of the frogs to a recording made of my males. I have come to the conclusion that my two, who were supposed to have been wild caught males, could be Hyla Chrysoscelis although they were sold as Versicolor as were the 6 newly acquired babies! I have had our adult female for so long i doubt she was sold as anything other than "Grey Tree-frog" the shop i rescued her from was so awful and had long gone bust they wouldn't have known. It looks like getting a breeding group together is not going to be easy and that is probably why not many people do it! �� i certainly don't have access to microscopes to check chromosomes or compare blood cells although many many years ago I trained as a Laboratory Assistant Not that that would help much these days!