Hyla crucifer
- noun
- Specialized
:
Hyla crucifer
- The distinctive call of the Hyla crucifer signals the arrival of spring in wetland areas.
Examples
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Biologists often track populations of Hyla crucifer to monitor wetland health.
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At dusk, the chorus of Hyla crucifer can be heard throughout the marshes.
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The Hyla crucifer is often found near ponds.
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Have you heard the call of the Hyla crucifer?
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As spring arrives, the Hyla crucifer fills the air with its high-pitched call near the wetlands.
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During their nightly activities, a group of Hyla crucifer can be seen hopping around the edges of the marsh.
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The presence of Hyla crucifer in an area indicates a healthy wetland ecosystem.
Synonyms
1
9.0
A small North American tree frog that makes a very high, thin call near ponds in spring
Surface Forms
Morphology
Hyla + crucifer
This is a scientific binomial: the genus 'Hyla' signals a tree-frog, so a learner who knows that constituent can infer it denotes a type of tree frog. However the species epithet 'crucifer' is not provided in the dictionary and even if parsed as Latin ('cross-bearing') the full descriptive meaning (small brown frog of eastern North America with a high-pitched call) is not recoverable from the parts alone. Because the genus gives a clear cue but the specific species information is not predictable from the constituents, the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Hyla crucifer may come from old words that describe the frog: Hyla was used for tree frogs and crucifer means 'cross-bearer' because this frog often has a dark X-shaped mark on its back. So the name gives a simple picture of a small tree frog with a 'cross' on its back, which helps you remember this spring-calling wetland frog.