Aiee! Cajun frog discovered in Louisiana makes big splash in scientific community. Quarter-sized critter found in Louisiana is first discovery of its kind since 1985

NEW ORLEANS – To Cajun cooking and Cajun culture you can add the Cajun frog.

Postdoctoral researcher Emily Lemmon holds an Upland chorus frog, similar to the Cajun frog she recently discovered in Louisiana. The brown-and-tan, ground-dwelling Cajun chorus frog – kin to spring peepers and green tree frogs – was introduced last month to the scientific world in the journal Zootaxa.

"They're probably calling in Louisiana right now if it rained recently. They breed in January, February and March," said Emily Lemmon, who discovered the quarter-sized critter while studying frogs for her doctorate in evolutionary biology.

"A Cajun chorus frog. Is it saying 'Aiee!'?" national park ranger and Cajun musician Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes said at the news.

The discovery appears to be the first of a new U.S. frog species since 1985, when Paul Moler identified the Florida bog frog, said Christopher Austin, assistant curator of amphibians and reptiles at Louisiana State University's Museum of Natural Science.

These Cajun frogs, found in western Mississippi, eastern Texas and Oklahoma, all of Arkansas and far southern Missouri, have a quick, slightly rising "R r r r a a a a? R r r r a a a a? R r r r a a a a?" call.

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STEVE YEATER