The Baw Baw frog is a critically endangered species of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 as categorised on the IUCN redlist

Redlist

Ignorance is the result of Jeff Scott Soto's collaboration with Dave Fraser and Neil Goldberg.-Track listing:# "Migraine" - Used for an episode of the CBS Show "Close to Home"# "World Today"# "Swallow"...

 and listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988).

Description

Adult length is between 42 to 55 mm. Adults are dark brown and often have brown to dark brown, yellow flecked bellies. These frogs have a prominent parotoid gland

Parotoid gland

The parotoid gland is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It secretes a milky alkaloid substance to deter predators...

 behind each eye. Their toes are unwebbed. At hatching, the tadpoles are creamy white and unpigmented, acquiring some colouration and eye pigmentation as they mature. Tadpoles have large yolk sac

Yolk sac

The yolk sac is a membranous sac attached to an embryo, providing early nourishment in the form of yolk in bony fishes, sharks, reptiles, birds, and primitive mammals...

s and residual mouths, and do not feed until metamorphosis. Metamorphlings have different colouration to the adults.

Habitat

Baw Baw frogs live in a restricted range on the Baw Baw Plateau

Baw Baw National Park

Baw Baw is a national park in Victoria, Australia, 111 km east of Melbourne. It contains the Baw-Baw Plateau and Mount Baw Baw, a small ski resort, including nearby town, technically outside the national park....

 in eastern Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 and have more recently been discovered in the subalpine moist eucalypt forests around the plateau. The breeding habitat appears to have contracted to the moister and less rocky western and central areas of the plateau.

Breeding

The female frog lays her eggs in naturally occurring cavities in and around the soil, vegetation, logs or rocks. According to Hollis, the tadpoles generally remain at their hatching site but may move short distances in shallow water, while remaining under cover of vegetation, or may be washed into ponds.

Declining population

Population estimates have reduced from 10,000-15,000 breeding males in 1983 to around 750, or according to Frogs Victoria less than 250 individuals. The cause of this reduction is unknown, but the usual suspects of predatation by feral animals, habitat degradation, chytrid fungus and ozone layer depletion may each have contributed. The frog's habitat is subject to woodchipping

Woodchipping

Woodchipping is the act and industry of chipping wood for pulp, processed wood products, and mulch.-Papermaking:Timber is converted to woodchips and sold, primarily, for pulp production used in paper manufacture...

and Hollis cites Malone (1985) as having found significantly higher mortality rates in eggs and tadpoles in disturbed habitats in comparison with those in undisturbed surroundings.

External links

• Frogs of Victoria field guide with description, images and sound recording
• Amphibiaweb
• Excellent, detailed description of species and conservation issues by Greg Hollis, Cth Department of the Environment and Heritage, October 1997
• http://www.edgeofexistence.org/amphibians/species_info.php?id=570