The Endangered Green & Gold Frog

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT FROGS:

There are around 3,900 species of tailless
amphibians, or Anura, also called Salientia, including
the frogs and toads.
Frogs are members of the zoological class
called Amphibia.
Amphibians are coldblooded (or poikilothermic)
vertebrate animals.
Amphibians differ from reptiles in that they lack
scales and generally return to water to breed.
Frogs have slimy skin to stay moist when it is
dry, and toads have bumpy skin to help camouflage
them in their habitat.
Some frogs and toads have paratoidal glands which
secrete poisons as protection which can cause skin
irritations and may be poisonous to some species
of animals.
When you ask about the difference between FROGS
and TOADS most of us are surprised to hear that all Toads
actually are Frogs.
Generally speaking, though, when we think of FROGS,
we picture what are called "True Frogs", members of the
family Ranidae, containing more than 400 species.
These frogs have the characteristics of:

Two bulging eyes.
Strong, long, webbed hind feet that are
adapted for leaping and swimming.
Smooth or slimy skin (generally, frogs tend to
like moister environments).
Frogs tend to lay eggs in clusters.
Frogs from this family can be found on every
continent except Antarctica.
They are referred to as the "true frogs"
because of their generalized body form and life
history: the so-called generic frog.
Members of this family include the bullfrog,
common frog, green frog, leopard frog, marsh frog,
pickerel frog, and wood frog.

The term TOADS tends to refer to "True Toads"
or members of the family Bufonidae, containing more
than 300 species.
These types of frogs are characterized by:

They have stubby bodies with short hind legs,
for walking instead of hopping.
They have warty and dry skin, usually preferring
dryer climates.
They have paratoid or poison glands behind the eyes.
The chest cartiledge of toads is different.
Toads tend to lay eggs in long chains.
There are some toads (genera Nectophrynoides),
that are the only types of anurans to bear live young.
True Toads can be found worldwide except in
Australasia, polar regions, Madagascar, and Polynesia,
though the Bufo marinus has been artificially introduced
into Australia and some South Pacific islands.
Besides Bufo, the family includes 25 genera, all
of which, like the frogs, are anura.

The physical distinctions, however, can get
blurred because sometimes the features appear mixed
or less obvious, and certain species even legitimately
fall into both categories.
Records show that in captivity, many species of
frogs and toads can live for surprisingly long times.
They average somewhere between 4 and 15 years.
The biggest kind of frog is the Goliath frog
(Conraua goliath).
These frogs come from Cameroon in West Africa.
Their bodies can reach the size of nearly a foot
(30 cm) long.
The Conraua Goliath can weight as much as a large
housecat, about 3.3 kilos.
The smallest frog in the Southern Hemisphere is
the Gold Frog, or Brazilian Psyllophryne Didactyla.
These adult frogs grow to only 9.8 millimetres
in body length (with legs drawn in). That's about one
centimeter or about 3/8 of an inch.
Equally small is the smallest frog in the Northern
Hemisphere, only recently discovered (1996) in
Monte Iberia, Cuba.
It doesn't have a common name yet, but its
scientific name is Eleutherodactylus iberia.

ABOUT THE GREEN AND GOLDEN BELL FROGS:

Although it belongs to the tree frog group,
it actually spends most of its time on the ground.
Like all frogs the male has a distinctive call.
This frog makes a low growling sound and in
Victoria it is called the "growling grass frog".
It lives in weedy ponds, dams and streams and is
most common in northern Tasmania, with some
occurrences in the east and south of the State.
This large frog lives among vegetation in and
around swamps, dams and small pools of still water.
It feeds mainly on insects and also preys on
other frogs.
Unlike most frogs, it is active during the day
and is often seen basking in the sun.
Once common, it is now thought to be declining,
for reasons which are not fully understood.
Green and Golden Bell Frogs are skilful climbers
despite their bulky appearance.
As a defence mechanism, they release large amounts
of acrid-smelling secretions from skin glands.
As the name suggests, the body is a light green
with gold markings down the side and along the length
of the legs.
Adults measure from 5.3 to 7.3 centimetres.
They inhabit warm temperate to tropical grasslands,
mainly along the NSW coastline down into Victoria.
Its diet consists of moths, beetles and flies,
and just about any insect available to them.

WHY ARE THESE FROGS ENDANGERED??

The number and distribution of these frogs is
declining, particularly in north-west Tasmania.
Much of this frog's habitat is disappearing.
This is caused by such practices as draining land
for other purposes such as agriculture and housing
development.
Ponds and creeks are being polluted by chemicals
such as fertilizers and insecticides which runoff
into the waterways after rain.
Stock also causes damage to the waterways when
they come down to drink causing soil erosion problems
which affects the water quality and the animals that
live in the water.
Another big threat to frogs is their collection
and use as fish bait.
The introduced mosquito fish Gambusia holbrooki
havs been shown to affect the larval survival of L.aurea.

TO HELP PROTECT THESE FROGS:

This frog is listed as endangered under the
Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.
There is a captive program for this species
with the goal to establish the viability of maintaining
Litoria aurea collected from a site subject to a
development application. The objective of this project
is to reintroduce progeny into a suitable protected site.
We need to safeguard this frog where it occurs and
prevent further destruction of its habitat.
Farmers are being encouraged to leave areas of
land in their natural state and replant riparian
vegetation (ie. plants that grow along the banks of
the waterways).
Education is an important way of helping people
understand the effect their actions can have on their
environment and the animals that rely on it.