Going, Going .....

Unfortunately, it is believed that some of the high altitude frogs of the Wet Tropics are already gone. Other species have lost all their high altitude populations and now only exist at lower levels including a few places around the edges of Cairns. Here are a few details about these frogs:

Litoria rheocola (Common Mist frog)

Still reasonably common at altitudes lower than 400 meters, the Common Mist frog is small (3 to 4 cm) and not lavishly marked. It breeds year round in moderate flowing, rocky streams such as those at Crystal Cascades, Stoney Creek and Bayview Heights.

Litoria nannotis (Waterfall frog)

This species can still be found at some sites higher than 400 meters but is rare even at low altitudes. It occurs only around waterfalls and sits on the rocks in the splash zone. Its markings are cryptic and enable it to sit unnoticed on wet granite boulders. The tadpoles have a sucker mouth to enable them to remain in fast flowing water without being washed away. It was believed for some time that L. nannotis did not have a call but a scratchy, hard to hear call is emitted and has been recorded by Australian researchers.

Nyctimystes dayi (Australian Lace-lid)

This frog is endearing with its larger than average dark eyes and diminutive call. It prefers to call from rocks in the middle of the riffle zone of streams but is often also found sitting on leaves overhanging the water from several meters above. Only one member of the Nyctimystes genus occurs in Australia but many others occur in Papua New Guinea. It also has a sucker-mouthed tadpole.

Litoria genimaculata (Green-eyed tree frog)

Like N. dayi above, this frog also occurs in PNG and is another stream dweller of the rainforest. However, its populations have not done as badly as the other species on this page. It has a larger egg clutch size which might be the factor that has kept its numbers intact at lower altitudes. It has lost its high altitude populations though. The colouration and markings of this species are quite variable and allow it to blend in well with lichen and moss covered objects. This frog likes a softly flowing stream and often calls from debris that piles up behind trees or large branches which have falled across the stream. The call sounds like the sound of soft clapping. The frog has been named for its green pupil but the green rapidly fades to a pale brownish red when the frog is disturbed.

The mottled tadpole of this species looks nearly identical to that of the Stony Creek frog (Litoria leseueri) but when the tadpole is nearing metamorph stage, faint bands begin to show on the back half of the body.

These 'Declining frogs' can still be found at some locations in Cairns but there are other far more endangered frogs from the Wet Tropics. More information about the 'Missing frogs' can be found in the herpetology pages in James Cook University's website.