In addition to its typical anuran (frog) anatomy, Hyla versicolor exhibits some adaptive features that allow it to prosper in its terrestrial/arboreal niche in the ecosystem.

In order to avoid detection by a predator, the gray treefrog has developed a cryptic color change system, allowing the frog to blend into whatever substrate it rests upon. Change in chromatophores (pigment-bearing cells within the skin) produce color alterations in the epidermal layer, causing the skin tone to morph to the desired hue. Granules of black, green, orange, and yellow pigment reside within these chromatophores, and, when a color is shifted, these the pigments responsible for the previous color move from their scattered positions to denser concentrations within a skin cell. For example, as a Hyla versicolor blends from a gray to a green color, the previously scattered black pigments become concentrated into a dot as the green pigments spread out to dominate the chromatophore of the epidermal cell. Color change is stimulated in a frog by temperature change and cues acting upon the nervous and visual systems.

The arboreal tendencies of Hyla versicolor has caused it to retain a key hylid characteristic: intercalary pads. These fleshy extensions of the epidermal layer around the phlanges allow the gray treefrog to climb up shrubs, trees, and even houses where it can find its favorite invertebrate food items and, possibly, a good calling perch in the case of the males. Under high magnification, the pad's epithelial cells (which are wide, flat exposed columnar surfaces in hylids) adopt the shape of shaprly, polygonal tiles that are parted by deep crevices. The shape of these cells and the extension of the pads combine with mucous (supplied by glands located between the cells)to promote capillary action that accounts for Hyla versicolor's ability to "stick" to the substrate it gracefully climbs upon.