Two New Frogs Discovered in Western Australia

Tiny toadlet and Kimberley froglet only know from the Kimberley
June 2009. Two new species of frogs have been discovered in Western Australia according to the Western Australian Museum.

Tiny Toadlet

The first species is called the Tiny Toadlet (Uperoleia micra) and is just over 2 cm long. It was discovered near the Prince Regent River when it was first heard calling near the field expedition base camp at Bachsten Creek. The new species is extremely shy and would not have been discovered if its call did not differ from those of three related species in the area.

Toadlets are actually frogs

‘Toadlets' are not true toads, but a group of native frogs that have a stocky appearance. The Kimberley is host to the highest diversity of Toadlets in Australia.

Kimberley Froglet

The Kimberley Froglet (Crinia fimbriata), was discovered on the Mitchell Plateau - an area previously believed to have been well surveyed for frogs. It is also about 2 cm in length. It was noticed owing to its blue and red background colour and covered with tiny white dots, similar to some Aboriginal painting styles. Males of this species have flanges on the fingers, but it is not known what the flanges might be used for.

Kimberley biodiversity

The discovery of two frog species in the northwest Kimberley emphasises the high diversity of the area, and is timely owing to current State and National reviews of the area's biodiversity assets. The very rugged northwest Kimberley region is being increasingly impacted by tourism, industry, feral weeds, cattle and soon the Cane Toad.

High level of endemism

Dr. Paul Doughty, WA Museum Curator of Herpetology said "The northwest Kimberley has a high diversity of frogs and reptiles that are unique to the region, as it receives high rainfall in summer and the area is cut-off by drier regions to the south. Many of the species that occur there have been evolving there in isolation for millions of years, and there are certainly more species to discover from the area."

"Other than being able to describe these two new species, we know very little about their behaviour and habits. To me they are like new friends that we are just getting to know" he said.

The discoveries were made possible by a research grant through Alcoa of Australia to support the WA Museum's Alcoa Frog Watch programme. Also participating were Dale Roberts of UWA, Marion Anstis - Australia's tadpole expert, PhD student Luke Price from the SA Museum and many others.

The discovery of the frogs from the high rainfall zone of the northwest Kimberley were formally described this week in the Records of the Western Australian Museum and Zootaxa.

Picture Credit Western Australia Museum
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