Bibron's Toadlet
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| iBibron's Toadlet | ||||||||||||||
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| Pseudophryne bibronii Günther, 1859 | ||||||||||||||
| Image:Pseudophryne bibronii distrib.png Range of the Bibron's Toadlet
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The Bibron's Toadlet or Brown Toadlet, (Pseudophryne bibronii) is a species of Australian ground-dwelling frog, that although has declined over much of its range, is widespread through most of New South Wales, Victoria, south-eastern Queensland and eastern South Australia, including Kangaroo Island.
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[edit] Physical Description
This species is variable and may represent more than one species. It grows to about 30mm in length and is brown, grey or black above, often with scattered red spots. It is normally strongly marbled black and white on the ventral surface, however in some areas this marbling can be faint. There is always an orange, red or yellow patch in the armpits. This patch varies from yellow to orange between sites. At the Jervis Bay region this patch is always yellow, this may be a result of hybridisation with the Southern Toadlet (Pseudophryne dendyi) which has a strong yellow patch in the armpits. There is also a yellow/orange patch or raised bump on the back of the thigh.
[edit] Behaviour & Ecology
This species inhabits areas that are likely to be inundated after rain. This can be anything from coastal swamps, creeks, temporary ponds/roadside ditches in forest, cleared land, heathland and even sub-alpine areas.
Males make a grating "ark" noise from a concealed area, in mud, under rocks or damp leaf litter. Males normally call after heavy rain or when water is available, they call all year round but normally from February to June at temperatures as low as 4°C. Eggs are laid under moist leaf litter or in sphagnum moss, when rain floods the nest site the eggs hatch and the tadpoles develop in the water. If no sufficient rain happens soon after laying the eggs can remain unhatch for many weeks, with the tadpoles devloping inside. The males remains with the eggs in the nest, he may mate with more than one female.
When threatened, the Bibron's Toadlet will often lie on its back, unresponsive, pretending to be dead. This performance had been reported to last for up to an hour.
[edit] Sources
- Anstis, M. 2002. Tadpoles of South-eastern Australia. Reed New Holland: Sydney.
- Robinson, M. 2002. A Field Guide to Frogs of Australia. Australian Museum/Reed New Holland: Sydney.
- Frogs Australia Network-frog call available here.
- SA EPA's Frogs of South Australia website
[edit] References
- Gillespie et al (2004). Pseudophryne bibronii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is near threatened
