Plains brown tree frog

species of amphibian

The plains brown tree frog, plain tree frog or Victoria frog (Litoria paraewingi) is a frog from Australia. It lives in southern Australia just north of Melbourne, in Victoria and New South Wales.[3][1]

Plains brown tree frog
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Pelodryadidae
Genus: Litoria
Species:
L. paraewingi
Binomial name
Litoria paraewingi
Watson, Loftus-Hills, and Littlejohn, 1971
Synonyms[2]
  • Litoria paraewingi (Watson, Loftus-Hills, and Littlejohn, 1971)
  • Rawlinsonia paraewingi (Wells and Wellington, 1985)

The adult male is 21 to 28 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female is 34 to 36 mm long. It is pale brown in colour with a stripe from its nose over its eyes and down its body. Parts of its legs are pale yellow or orange. It looks very similar to the brown tree frog.[4]

This frog can live in forests or grasslands. It lives in bodies of water that are still or slow-flowing, like creeks, ditches, lakes, and slow parts of rivers.[3]

The plains brown tree frog is closely related to the brown tree frog, enough that they can have babies together when they meet in the wild, though this is rare. Scientists studied the nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA of hybrid frogs and they found that it was male plains brown tree frogs mating with female brown tree frogs more than half the time.[5]

They lay eggs on underwater plants.[3]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jean-Marc Hero; Frank Lemckert; Peter Robertson (2004). "Litoria paraewingi". 2004. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T41104A10398639. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T41104A10398639.en. Retrieved June 30, 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Litoria paraewingi (Watson, Loftus-Hills, and Littlejohn, 1971)". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 J-M Hero; et al. (April 5, 2002). "Litoria paraewingi: Plains Brown Tree Frog". Amphibiaweb. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  4. Michael J. Taylor; Frank Knight (2020). Field Guide to the Frogs of Australia. Csiro Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 9781486312467. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  5. Katie L Smith; Joshua M Hale; Michael R Kearney; Jeremy J Austin; Jane Melville (April 2013). "Molecular Patterns of Introgression in a Classic Hybrid Zone Between the Australian Tree Frogs, Litoria Ewingii and L. Paraewingi: Evidence of a Tension Zone (Abstract)". Molecular Ecology. 22 (7): 1869–83. doi:10.1111/mec.12176. PMID 23294099. S2CID 35801843.