The Cliff Chirping Frog (Eleutherodactylus marnockii) is a small Leptodactylid

Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae is a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic. There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species...

 frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 found in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, in central and western Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Description

Cliff frogs are 0.75 to 1.5 inches in length, and are an olive green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 or tan

Tan (color)

Tan is a pale whiteish, tawny shade of white. The name is derived from tannum used in the tanning of leather.The first recorded use of tan as a shade name in English was in the year 1590....

 in coloration with brown

Brown

Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....

 or black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

 mottling, often with banding on the rear legs. They have a somewhat flattened body which allows them to hide in rock crevices. They have no or little webbing between their toes.

Behavior and habitat

Cliff chirping frogs are nocturnal

Nocturnal animal

Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal"....

 and live most of their lives on limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 rock faces, often near emerging springs. Like most frogs, they will hop, but they are also capable of crawling, which aids them in hiding in rock crevices. Though primarily found around rocky areas, they are also common in forested regions, any area with a moderate amount of moisture, but isn't actually a pool of water or stream. Their primary diet is small insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s.

Reproduction

Breeding occurs year round, except at the coldest points of the winter, but generally peaks during the rainy season in the months of April and May. Females can lay up to three clutches of eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

a year, in a moist substrate of leaf litter, or soil.